Aiming to address and resolve major component concerns, the I-PLAN Component of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) conducted an assessment and planning workshop for the second quarter of the year on June 21-24 in Baguio City.

Project Support Office I-PLAN Head Ariel Briones presented the review of the I-PLAN Operations Manual and the findings, recommendations and agreements from the World Bank Implementation Support Mission, emphasizing how Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIPs) have now been substantially institutionalized.

PCIPs are being recognized by provinces as they provide solid technical basis for investment prioritization, and as an effective means to leverage support beyond PRDP.

Revised PCIP guidelines under preparation should elaborate on how to evaluate Value Chain Analysis (VCA) findings to ensure that strategic priorities of the Department of Agriculture are addressed in identifying interventions to be included in PCIPs.

PCIPs of Apayao, Batanes, Aurora and Ilocos Norte were presented prior to the VCA presentation by Regional Project Coordination Office 2 I-PLAN Head Kaye Olivas, Mr. Arnel Cagujas, Gelly Vitug from RPCO3 and Ms. Dorris Garcia from RPCO1.

As agreed, the component will be working on the re-echoing of geo-mapping training for province, conduct of investment fora with partner agencies, formalization of CPTs, monitoring of funding support/implantation status of non-PRDP interventions in the PCIPs, among others.

As of March 31, 2016, the VCAs of Ampalaya, Peanut, Onion, Tilapia and Sweetpotato have been issued with the No Objection Letter (NOL). Seven VCAs are re-endorsed for issuance of NOL, four are awaiting comments from the national office, ten already received comments and are currently being complied, two are under review of the Project Support Office, four are under drafting and two are undergoing data gathering, for a total of 34 VCAs for the North Luzon cluster.

The I-PLAN component is responsible for strengthening the department’s planning, programming and budget execution process in support to the Agriculture and Fishery Modernization Plan (AFMP) as the basis for resource allocation and prioritization of the DA programs, projects, and activities implemented at the national and regional levels. (Kayla Arceo, DA-PRDP PSO InfoACE Unit)