Batayan, Tadian, Mountain Province – In its aim to usher development to the western part of the province, the Provincial LGU of Mountain Province led the groundbreaking rites for the Tadian-Mabalite Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) last August 18, 2017.

The P102M-worth road project will cause the concreting of 11.91 kilometers of FMR which shall start from Batayan to Mabalite, Tadian via Nacawang. It is the second segment of the Improvement of Besao-Nacawang and Tadian-Mabalite FMR subproject with a total length of 20.1 km.

This was realized through the I-BUILD (Infrastructure Development) component of the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) which is a World Bank-assisted national project.

A mass cum capsule-laying officiated by Rev. Fr. Falen B. Bugnosen signified the start of the road project. This was followed by a brief program with open forum participated in by stakeholders from the municipalities of Tadian and Besao and provincial officials headed by Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. and Vice Gov. Francis O. Tauli.

In his e-message, DA-CAR Regional Executive Director Lorenzo M. Caranguian commended the Provincial Government under the headship of Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. for the realization of the PRDP project for the people of Tadian and for all those who shall be benefited by the project.

“Please be assured that DA-CAR will always be there for the people of Mountain Province. It is a joy as well as an honor to be in partnership with LGUs who are continuously working for the betterment of people’s lives,” Caranguian said.

Gov. Lacwasan, in his message, spoke of the significance of the groundbreaking and ribbon cutting after the completion of projects which ideally are participated in by all stakeholders. He, too, underscored the vital role of the Besao-Nacawang and Tadian Mabalite road in interconnecting the municipalities in the province.

On the whole, the elected officials assured the community that they will incessantly work for more projects, especially high-impact projects that would surely benefit all, especially the constituents of the province.

Engr. Constito S. Masweng of RS Sepian Construction, committed to strictly work and finish the project per Program of Work.

Tadian municipal officials led by Vice Mayor Polan and the barangay chairmen of SuLuMaBaBaDu, Tadian were one in expressing their profound gratitude to the Provincial Government and to DA-CAR for the road improvements and the FMRs that are to be implemented.

The Barangay Chairmen of Tadian – Arthur Lumino (Sumadel), Bernard Buned (Lubon), Johnson Balao-as (Masla), Marcos Balog-as (Bantey), Jimmy Tade (Batayan) and Federico Matias (Duagan), together with councilmen from the same barangays expressed their gratitude to the implementation of the project.

“The improvement of the road would mean the improvement of the barangay; the road leads to improvement of lives,” said the Tadian West barangay officials.

Given the many road gaps that still abound in the western part of the province, Provincial Engineer Edward B. Likigan has expressed optimism to the people of Tadian and Besao that more infrastructure projects will be implemented, God-willing. ### (Novy del Rosario Afidchao, PLGU Mountain Province)