‘Collaboration’ and ‘cooperation’ are the key messages emphasized by the Geo-mapping and Governance Unit (GGU) during the unit’s national coordination meeting on April 25-29. The meeting looked into the progress of the unit, as well as its growing development as the main promoter of transparency in the implementation of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

During his lecture, National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) GGU Head Samuel Belamide pointed out the importance of synergy – strengthening interactions with other units and components to produce combined outputs greater than the sum of their separate efforts.

“GGU is interdependent; our every action creates a ripple effect on other units,” said Belamide.

During the week-long activity, participants were able to raise and discuss vital topics such as overlapping farm-to-market roads, timeline of submission of geo-tagged photos, issues on Road Influence Areas, projects set for cancellation, and World Bank mission findings and recommendations, among others.

The GGU likewise expressed its full support to the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Unit’s nationwide roll-out of the web-based Management Information System (MIS).

With the expiration of the GGU’s main online storages (Picasa and Google Earth Plug-ins), the World Bank has given its nod for the development of a new portal and a mobile application intended for PRDP. The Geotag Portal is now integrated to the Project MIS (PMIS) with sub-project with timeline progress dashboard.

The meeting also highlighted how good construction practices emerge from the wide utilization of geo-tagging.

Under the I-SUPPORT component, the GGU is mainly responsible for the utilization of innovative tools like the Vulnerability and Suitability Assessment (VSA), Expanded VSA (e-VSA), Geo-mapping, and Geo-tagging. Said tools greatly aid the project and its implementers in determining whether a proposed sub-project is implemented in the right place, whilst promoting cost-effectivity through virtual monitoring of sites and equipment.

PRDP is a special project under the Department of Agriculture designed to establish an inclusive, market-oriented and climate-resilient agriculture and fishery sector. It comprises four main components – I-PLAN, I-BUILD, I-REAP and the I-SUPPORT component which is subdivided into Finance, Procurement, Accounting, Budget, Administrative, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES), Information, Advocacy, Communication, and Education (InfoACE) and the Geo-mapping and Governance Unit. (Kayla Arceo, PRDP North Luzon)