The Regional Project Coordination Office 02 of the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project, Provincial Government of Isabela and Municipal Local Government Unit of Quezon, Isabela joined hands today, July 20, 2022, for the groundbreaking of the Rehabilitation and Improvement of San Juan-Barucboc-Estrada-Dummon Farm to Market Road worth P139M.

According to RPCO 02 Project Director and Regional Executive Director Narciso A. Edillo, the project will undoubtedly enhance the agricultural activities in the municipality of Quezon and uplift the lives of the smallholder farmers.

“Today marks the fulfillment of elevating the lives of the common farmers and help achieve food sufficiency in this area,” he said.

Edillo elaborated that the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is serious in the pursuit of enhancing the agriculture sector, as he said the immediate concern in the next six months is food supply.

“And this is what we are doing now, putting efficient infrastructure along the value chain to achieve a high price of produce and not detrimental to the rest and fairly and competitively gains,” he added.

Quezon Mayor Jimmy S. Gamazon Jr. expressed his appreciation to World Bank, national government through DA PRDP and the Provincial Government Isabela for funding the project.

“This is a much-awaited project for us since we started documentation even before the pandemic. As we mark the start of implementation today, we are grateful to all those who worked hard for its realization,” he said.

“Napakalaking tulong ito sa pag-unlad ng bayan ng Quezon kung kaya’t kami ay lubos na nagpapasalamat.”

In his presentation, Atty. Eduardo B. Cabantac, PPMIU Isabela Head, the 12.42 kilometer FMR aims to provide a climate resilient transportation infrastructure in support not only on dairy but other agricultural commodities within the services areas particularly the four barangays.

He said that 80 percent of the funds came from World Bank, 10 percent from the national government through DA and 10 percent from the provincial government.

“The No Objection Letter 2, which marks the start of subproject implementation, was received last June 22, 2022. We hope to complete the project after one and a half year,” Cabantac ended.

The groundbreaking ceremonies was attended by local residents and other regional, provincial, municipal and barangay officials of Quezon and even nearby town of Mallig. (RPCO2 InfoACE)