Establishing coordination and gaining motivation are the key objectives in mind of the Project Support Office (PSO) Luzon A during its cluster meeting with regional and provincial offices held last December 7-9 in Bolinao, Pangasinan.

Attended by representatives from the Provincial Project Management Implementing Units (PPMIUs), the activity served as a venue for recognizing the efforts of the local government units in implementing and complying with the necessary documents and measures set by the World Bank, the Project’s major funder.

Under the Infrastructure Development component, Nueva Ecija with 13 subprojects topped among 22 provinces in having the most approved proposals, followed by Isabela and Ilocos Norte both with 11.

Cagayan was awarded as the province with highest cost of approved infra subprojects amounting to P623.01M. Kalinga came in second with P526.98M and Benguet with P430.71M.

For the Enterprise Development component, Tarlac now has 24 approved enterprise proposals, earning them the award for the highest number of I-REAP subprojects in the cluster. Isabela followed with 14 approved subprojects and Pampanga with 10.

The province of Tarlac also bagged the award for having the highest amount of enterprise subprojects (P41.29M), followed by Nueva Ecija (P30.58M) and Isabela (P29.01M).

Aside from awarding outstanding LGUs, PSO also recognized the Cordillera Administrative Region for obtaining a total of 32 approved infrastructure subprojects amounting to P1.6 billion. CAR bagged both awards for the highest number and amount of approved SPs.

Meanwhile Central Luzon received awards for having 52 approved enterprise subprojects amounting to P119.12M – both number and cost are the highest among all provinces of the cluster.

PRDP is a DA-special project that aims to establish a modern climate-smart, market oriented agri-fishery sector. The Project is jointly funded by the World Bank, the National Government and the Local Government Units (LGUs). North Luzon is one of the four clusters of PRDP alongside South Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It comprises of four regions – CAR, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon. (Kayla Arceo, PSO Luzon A InfoACE)