Agriculture Secretary William Dar led the inauguration and turnover of the Bado Dangwa-Guilayon Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) in Tabuk City, Kalinga under the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) on September 30, 2020.
The road project, which was completed five months and 29 days ahead of its target, is the realization and fulfillment of a lifelong dream of Tabuk residents.
“Let me congratulate our partners — the provincial government, the city of Tabuk, and of course the two contractors for the construction of this road network. We are happy to see the quality of the work that has been done here,” Dar said.
The project, which has a total cost of P230 million (M), was funded under PRDP loan proceeds from World Bank (80%), with counterpart funding from the DA and the city government of Tabuk.
Aside from the FMR, Secretary Dar announced that the DA regional office in Cordillera is pouring investments to level up productivity and increase farmers’ income under the regular banner programs, special projects, and initiatives to be undertaken by its attached bureaus.
“All in all, we have set aside P674M for the province this year, and another P374M under the PRDP next year,” Dar said.
The DA chief added that with the PRDP funding mechanism, Kalinga rural communities will be upgraded, and residents will soon enjoy increased production and higher income.
Guilayon Barangay Chair Jonie Malaggan recalled how his fellow residents dreamed of having a concrete road to and from their farms. More than a transport system, the FMR was implemented in support to the livelihood activities within the subproject area. “Gapu ti kape, sinmangpet dagitoy da nga proyekto. Awisen mi dakayo nga ipapati tayo ti agmula ti kape ta dakdakel ti maala tau nga ganansya nu kape ti imula tayo,” [Because of coffee, these projects materialized. We invite you to pursue planting coffee because we’re going to earn more with coffee.] said Rep. Allen Jesse Mangaoang as he urged the beneficiaries to expand their coffee production.
He further expressed his gratefulness to the DA and PLGU, especially to the technical staff of the PPMIU and the PRDP for the successful implementation of the FMR subproject.
The ceremony was also attended by and Governor Ferdinand Tubban; key officials from the DA, PRDP cluster, and regional offices; PLGU Kalinga, and members of the local community. ### (Elvy Taquio, DA-PRDP RPCO-CAR InfoACE Unit)
