The Department of Agriculture Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) turned over multi-million worth of completed subprojects in Apayao during the inauguration and turnover ceremonies held at the Mallig Elementary School in, Flora on November 29, 2022.

Said subprojects turned over include the Improvement of the Sta. Maria- Mallig Upper Atok Farm-to -Market Road (FMR), seven (7) warehouses and four (4) enterprise development subprojects under the PRDP’s I-BUILD and I-REAP components, respectively, with a total combined project cost of over PhP300 million.

In previous years, before the implementation of the projects, life was difficult and burdensome to the residents, especially when it comes to mobility and transport of harvested produce.

Many of the residents who benefitted from the project implementation were thankful saying the road network enables them to market their products and reduce their travel time as well as help their school children attend to their studies with less troubles. 

The turnover was led by Regional Development Council (RDC) Chairperson and Governor Elias C. Bulut, Jr., and Engr. Cael Gaston who represented DA-CAR Regional Director Cameron P. Odsey. Also present were Mayors Hector Reuel D. Pascua of Pudtol, Evelyn B. Martinez of Sta. Marcela, Acting Mayor Jeofrey Blas of Flora, Josephine M. Bangsil of Luna, representatives from the municipalities of Calanasan, Conner and Kabugao and representatives of farmers’ cooperatives.

The newly-completed 11.8-kilometer FMR with a subproject cost of PhP215.5 million with PhP40 million counterpart funding from the provincial government, is the biggest DA-funded FMR sub-project implemented by the PLGU since PRDP was introduced in the province in 2019.

“This [FMR project] will not only bring better market opportunities for banana growers but will also invite more development investments and government interventions to the communities it caters to,” Gov. Bulut said.

For his part, Engr. Cael thanked the community people for their cooperation and for their counterparts, thus ensuring the success of the project.

“Ammo mi nga dakkel nga sakripisyo yo ngem idawat mi nga kitan tayo kuma ti pagsayaatan na daytoy kalsada tayo,” Engr. Cael added.

Also turned over to the farmers’ cooperatives under the enterprise development component (I-REAP) of the PRDP were the Coffee Processing Center in Calanasan, Banana Cardava Trading Center in Poblacion, Flora and Conner and the Banana Chips Processing and Marketing center in Pudtol.// Jaylord Agpuldo (PIO Apayao)