May 28, 2015

Romeo Siso, a public utility motorcycle or “habal-habal” driver, has endured the risk of traversing the cracked and rugged surface of the road from Brgy. San Isidro to Pag-Oring Nuevo in Libmanan, Camarines Sur for several years. About 22, 257 residents of 14 out of the municipality’s 75 barangays use the same route in going to the highway as well as to the town proper. The risk gets worse during rainy days. But at last, this summer 2015, he received good news: the construction of the proposed Rehabilitation of San Isidro to Pag-oring Nuevo Road under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) will soon start.

Siso could not contain his gratitude during the groundbreaking ceremony of the P44,286,152.66-worth Rehabilitation of San Isidro to Pag-Oring Nuevo farm-to-market road (FMR) held on May 26, 2015 at the Barangay Hall of Brgy. San Isidro in Libmanan.

“Nagtiis po kami ng matagal na panahon, napakalaki po nitong pabor para sa amin. Salamat sa masigasig ninyong pagpapatupad ng proyekto,” he said. He added that the road will benefit not only him or his parents but also the generations to come.

On May 5, 2015, the Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) of Camarines Sur has received the No Objection Letter 2 (NOL 2) issued by the National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) for the Rehabilitation of the six-kilometer San Isidro to Pag-Oring Nuevo FMR which is projected to benefit a total population of 104,595   or 21,590 households. Similarly, NPCO issued NOL 2 for the Upgrading of the eight-kilometer Cuco-Bagong-Silang FMR in Pasacao, Camarines Sur worth P50.5 M which will benefit a total population of 45,946 or 8,302 households. The Notice to Award for both projects was issued to MARCBILT Construction Inc., the lowest and responsive bidder, on May 11, 2015.

Camarines Sur Governor Miguel Luis R. Villafuerte expressed his excitement that the road rehabilitation will finally commence. He said that with the sub-project, farmers could easily bring their products to major market centers. It will also open more opportunities to raise their income as PRDP will also invest in agro-industrial enterprises that would boost the potential of the municipality’s coconut expansion areas.

According to the coconut production profile of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Libmanan has 49 coconut-producing barangays and 2,040 coconut farmers cultivating 1,114 coconut farms. Based on PCA’s survey, 84.73% of the municipality’s 970,645 coconut trees are bearing while 2005-2008 records show that it has a computed annual coconut production of 24,768,061 or 36.65 nuts/year average yield. Libmanan is projected to supply the raw materials needed for the Coconut Sap Sugar Processing, proposed by PPMIU-Camarines Sur under PRDP’s Investments in Rural Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity (I-REAP) component and the Village-level Coconut Water Processing System being pilot tested at the Coco Water Processing Technology Pilot Testing and Business Incubation Facility in San Agustin Pili, Camarines Sur.

Libmanan Mayor Marilyn A. Jimenez said that the rehabilitation of the San Isidro to Pag-oring Nuevo Road will allow easy access to the municipality’s coastal and mountainous barangays. She added that the road will greatly support her constituents’ livelihood through faster shipping of fresh and good quality agri-aqua products to the commercial centers.

The Rehabilitation of San Isidro to Pag-oring Nuevo Road is the first Intensified Building Up of Infrastructure and Logistics for Development (I-BUILD) sub-project in Bicol and the third in the country’s 81 provinces. The proposed road segment has been existent for over 30 years and is a portion of the proposed FMR connecting Brgy. San Isidro to Brgy. Caima, which the Provincial Local Government Unit of Camarines Sur aims to develop in the next 10 years.

“Ito yung magiging model because they will be the first to implement and the first to finish,” PRDP Project Support Office (PSO) South Luzon Director Shandy M. Hubilla said. (Annielyn L. Baleza, I-SUPPORT InfoACE Unit, DA-RAFIS 5)  

Camarines Sur Governor Miguel Luis R. Villafuerte receives a certificate of appreciation from Department of Agriculture RFU V RTD for Operations & Extension/PRDP Focal Person Dr. Elena B. De Los Santos (2nd from left) and PRDP Project Support Office (PSO) South Luzon Director Shandy M. Hubilla (3rd from left) for hosting the 1st WB Mission Review for Luzon B cluster in February this year.