Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte-Locals and barangay officials are now part of the community-based monitoring team as the farm-to-market- road project continues in Municipality of Tampilisan.

“We had training on Citizen Monitoring Team (CMT) conducted by the PRDP and hosted by Barangay Galingon. The participants were representatives from six barangays composed of barangay officials and the committee on agriculture and Department of Education from the elementary and high school in the barangay,” said Brgy. Captain Noel O. Gongob.

“For me, the significance of the CMT training is to ensure the quality of the project according to the program of work. Without the monitoring team, we will not see whether the project is implemented properly or not. In PRDP, they make sure that in every step of the implementation there are authorities present to supervise. By having us locals to be part of the monitoring team, they are really looking at the grassroots level,” added Gongob.

Preciosa B. Romano, a school teacher in Farmington Elementary School and a resident of the said barangay, is one of the trainees for the citizen monitoring team. Instead of being idle during the summer vacation, she accepted the invitation to join the training as it caught her interest.

“Through this training, I learned about the different criteria and standards of a road construction like the thickness of the cement from Tampilisan to Tilubog.  We learned that we also have a huge responsibility here in monitoring the project. I think that through this monitoring team, any possibility of corruption would be lessened,” said Romano.

Representatives from the six barangays joine the Citizen Monitoring Team Training in Brgy. Galingon, Tampilisan Zamboanga del Norte. (Photo by Gian Enrique, PSO)

“So far, I could see that the contractor follows the criteria. When we went to their field office, we saw that they had complete facilities, records were compiled, and they had personal protective equipment (PPE),” she added.

The ongoing construction of the P188 million Rehabilitation of Poblacion-Farmington-Galingon-Balacbaan-Cabong-Tilubog FMR is now on its 53.58% completion. With some portions of the road being finished and CMT still monitoring the project, farmers are starting to feel the ease of transportation.

“We are very much happy with the new road because our transportation is easier from here to Tampilisan now. The almost one hour travel time is now reduced to less than 30 minutes. Thank you for this road project,” said resident Renesita Handomon.

The barangay officials already have plans on how to sustain the monitoring activity of CMT as well as the maintenance for the farm-to-market road.

“The effect of this citizen monitoring team will be the assurance that this road will last a lifetime. We will endorse in our session to allocate budget for the CMT to sustain their monitoring activity and to continue in conducting monthly or quarterly meetings to keep the group active,” said Gongob.

“We are very much thankful and hopefully PRDP will continue to support us. May the recipients, not just us, but everyone who will benefit from this project, will treat this project as part of their lives for the prosperity and for the economic development of each household,” he added.(Joy M. Montecalvo, PSO Mindanao/InfoACE Unit)

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