Prior to the construction of the proposed P111 million onion cold storage facilities, the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) oriented the proponent group, Valiant Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative, and contractor, Three W Builders, Inc., on the implementation of the subproject. The said activity was held on September 14, 2022 in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija.

Representatives from the DA-PRDP Regional Project Coordination Office 3 (RPCO 3), led by Action Officer Maricel Dullas, and Project Support Office (PSO) North Luzon Cluster presented the requirements for the disbursement of funds and introduced PRDP tools that would help ensure the smooth execution of the subproject.

RPCO 3 Associate Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Rodel Cordova introduced Citizen Monitoring Training which would involve the active participation of the proponent group in the monitoring of the subproject’s construction.  RPCO 3 Finance Analyst Kathleen Catacutan enumerated the financial documents needed to be prepared by the proponent group and contractor for the releasing of funds. PSO Social and Environmental Safeguards Officer Peter Gonzales discussed the unit’s role in the subproject and its relevance with World Bank funding guidelines. PSO Geographic Information System Data Officer Emilliana Sombillo demonstrated the geotagging tool of PRDP that is also vital in the implementation of the subproject.

One of the project engineers from the contractor shared an overview of their construction methodologies before PSO Rural Infrastructure Engineer Shiedel Delicano presented the requirements from I-BUILD, PRDP’s infrastructure development component.

An open forum was also done during the activity where the PRDP, the proponent group headed by Chairman Roy Santiago, and the contractor committed to work hand in hand for the smooth implementation of the subproject and be able to realize its goal to help, especially the small onion farmers, improve their income. (Ram Bill Bautista, RPCO3 InfoACE)