Farmers and residents of barangay Kibenton and sitio Intavas, La Fortuna of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon, will now enjoy a new Farm to Market Road (FMR) as the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) officially turned-over the Concreting/Improvement of the Kibenton – Intavas FMR on June 16, 2020.

Mayor Anthony A. Uy of Impasug-ong expressed his gratitude for the FMR is finally turned-over. “I thank the DA-PRDP for helping us achieve what seemed to be impossible before. We have been through a lot of hardships in completing this road, from peace and order issues to severe weather conditions. Now, farmers and residents of Kibenton and Intavas are enjoying the newly constructed road. I also thank the people who worked hard to finally complete this project; our dream of having a better road for our farmers is now a reality.”

In his message, OIC-Regional Director of DA-10 and Project Head of DA-PRDP 10 Carlene C. Collado commended the LGU and the people behind the subproject. “I congratulate everyone for this achievement. Even though you have been through a lot of struggles, you succeeded, and finally it’s done. You were able to make your people happy by providing them a road that can make their lives easier and you can keep on improving by proposing additional projects to DA”

OIC-Regional Director of DA-10 and Project Head of DA-PRDP 10 Carlene C. Collado leads the ribbon cutting ceremony withMayor Anthony A. Uy of Impasug-ong – (Photo by Cyrus Seraspe)

The FMR holds a big part in the residents’ hearts. The residents have shown their support by helping in monitoring the usage of the road. The officials from the benefiting barangays also plan to pass ordinances in maintaining the FMR such as imposing of speed limits to avoid road accidents, among others.

Even before the FMR was turned-over, the residents have already seen changes in their community. Corazon Turing, a farmer and Councilor for Agriculture from Sitio Intavas, shares her story. “Before it was very hard. We had to haul our products using carabaos, horses or cows, and travel through the rough road. When we reach Cagayan de Oro, our products usually end up damaged. But with the construction of the PRDP FMR, we could really see the improvements. Our products will no longer get damaged.”

The said FMR is worth Php 55,399,368.17 with a length of 5.04 km. A total 1,658 households will benefit from the said project, most especially the farmers planting rice, corn, banana, and high value commodity crops. The project will also cover over 786 hectares of agricultural area.

Also present in the said turn-over are Bukidnon Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Jacqueline Julia A Lagamon, Impasug-ong Vice Mayor Maria Norly T. Pepito, SB Members and officials of LGU Impasug-ong, barangays Kibenton and La Fortuna, and DA-PRDP-10 staff.#