Tanudan town is located 20 kilometers away from Tabuk City, the Provincial Capital of Kalinga Province. Both are connected by a steep, rough, rugged and muddy road. The poor road condition has caused several transport problems to local residents since the municipality was founded in 1932.

“Marigatan kami nga mang ipan ti produkto mi nga kape, saba, mais ken dadduma pay idiay palengke ta ilako mi koma ta adayo ken na alas iti kalsada mi ken napitak” (we are experiencing difficulty transporting our products specially coffee, banana, corn and others to the market for sale because of the distance and the poor road condition)”, said Agnina Bomosao, a resident of Pangol Barangay.

The road is dusty during summer and is not passable during rainy season. Even students are having difficulties going to school because of the absence of transport vehicles who avoid using the road.

“Napitak unay diyay kalsada no pinag tutudo iso nga ikaten mi ti sapatos mi no mapan kami ag eskwela (The road is so  muddy during rainy season that is  why we take our shoes off and go barefoot to school)”, narrates one high school student also from Pangol.

Tanudan was identified as a major coffee production area in the Province of Kalinga.

Rice, corn, banana, fruit trees, assorted vegetables and root crops thrive in the area but coffee tops the production sharing at 65% of the total municipal agricultural land devoted to this crop.

However, the poor road condition hampers the opportunities for economic growth in this municipality as well as in the Province.

The Improvement of Banneng-Gombowoy Farm-to-Market Road was proposed to address this problem, among others. It shall be funded under the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) through a loan from the World Bank, plus equities from the national and provincial governments supporting agricultural development in the area.

The FMR proposed recently received a go signal from the National Project Coordinating Office for the awarding of its contract to the Royal Sea Bees Construction/Pulsar Construction Joint Venture in the amount of Php118,900,699.49 through a No Objection Letter No. 2 dated February 24, 2016.

The awarding of the contract also requires for the conduct of a Pre-Construction Conference which was held on March 1, 2016.   A groundbreaking ceremony was also held at Barangay Pangol on March 3, 2016 led by Kalinga Governor Jocel Baac.

The 13-kilometer rural access road shall pass through barangays Dupligan, Lay-asan, Mabaca, Pangol and Banneng and is expected to benefit more than 4,000 beneficiaries with around 673 households.

“The road to progress is the road itself” quotes Governor Baac. He also reminded the beneficiaries that they have signed a waiver indicating that they (the beneficiaries) will not demand for just compensation in exchange for a portion of their land that shall form part of the road improvement.

“I am optimistic that the roads and enterprise funded under the PRDP shall aid in boosting the economy of the Kalinga people”, Baac added.

“This (groundbreaking) is a moment of truth for all of us” said Provincial Agriculturist Domingo Bakilan, also head of the PPMIU in Kalinga. “Residents have expressed doubt as to the truthfulness of this project since its inception in 2013.  This groundbreaking ceremony erases all those doubts”, he added.

“Maragsakan kami nga taga Tanudan ta ma tarimaan  ti kalsada mi ta mailako mi met iti produkto mi. Malungtot gamin dagiti produkto mi ta saan da nga mai-byahe ijay palengke.” (We, Tanudan residents are happy that this road will be improved so that we can easily sell our products from our barangays. Our crops are rotting because we find it difficult to transport them to the market) added Ms. Bomosao.

With hopes for a brighter economic future, Bomosao added that “Ma-engganyo kami metten a mangituloy iti produksyon mi ti kape ken bareng manayonan pay ti income mi ket aglalo a makatulong iti progreso mi ditoy Tanudan.” (We are enthusiastic to continue with our coffee production with hopes of increasing our income, more so to contribute to the progress of Tanudan)

The PRDP is a six-year national project under the DA that aims to partner with local government units and the private sector in providing key infrastructure, facilities, technology and information that will raise incomes, productivity and competitiveness in the countryside. (Mabel Zabala, DA-PRDP RPCO-CAR InfoACE Unit)

Groundbreaking. Ms. Josie Beray, Head of the I-REAP Component joins the groundbreaking ceremony for the Improvement of Banneng-Gombowoy Farm-To-Market Road led by Kalinga Governor Jocel Baac with Provincial Agriculturist Domingo Bakilan and staff, Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Kristian Wandag, the Provincial engineering Office staff and some local government officials of Tanudan and some beneficiaries.