The DA-PRDP Regional Project Coordination Office 3 (RPCO 3) facilitated the Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) through Citizens Monitoring Training (CMT) for the selected members of the Kapisanan ng mga Samahang Magsisibuyas ng Nueva Ecija (KASAMNE), held in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija on July 14-15, 2022.

Called the Citizens Monitoring Team, these members underwent a two-day training for their relevant participation on the monitoring of the PhP124-M subproject entitled “Establishment of Onion Cold Storage Facility and Marketing Enterprise”, funded by the DA-PRDP enterprise development component, I-REAP, under the Additional Financing 2 (AF-2).

RPCO 3 Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Officer Maria Cristina M. Domenden stated that the CMT will aid the project to ensure that it will progress in accordance with the prescribed designs, standards, and timelines. Moreover, this PRDP tool aims to increase the transparency in the implementation of interventions towards good governance and at the same time boost the citizens’ ownership to the process of implementation and eventually raising their stake to the sustainability of the subproject during operations.

The CM Team will be looking into the subproject’s quality in terms of design, specifications, materials, manpower, equipment, facility, and construction practice and its compliance to mitigating measures against potential adverse effects of the project to some households and the environment.

As discussed by Engr. Romel G. Tiangco, one of RPCO 3’s Rural Infrastructure Engineers (RIE), the citizens are invited to look into quality assurance elements of the subproject which includes the (1) Management Support System to ensure that organizational structures at all levels are well functioning, the (2) Contract Review Process to check that the subproject had gone through and passed different stages of development, the (3) Inspection and Testing Procedures comprising materials testing and quality control, the (4) Document Control Procedures to maintain proper communication flow, filing and use of documents for transparency, and the (5) Operation and Maintenance Procedures which assures for the subproject ownership and sustainability.

Furthermore, Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) Officer Jesusa Surla taught the members of the CM Team regarding the GRM which is a locally based formal method in which a resolution to a grievance or feedback from the community is sought and provided. Surla added that the GRM reduces risk for projects and offers communities an effective avenue for expressing concerns and achieving remedies.

“Sa grievance po na naituro sa amin, maganda po na nalalaman naming halimbawa kung magkaroon ng problema, alam po naming agad kung saan unang pupunta, kung saan pwedeng idulog ‘yong aming mga hinaing.” said Rolando Salon, a member of the CM Team of the KASAMNE onion cold storage subproject.

“Regarding the grievance that was taught to us, it’s beneficial to know where to go in case a problem arises or whom to call to convey our grievances.”

The Geotagging tool was also introduced by Geographic Information System (GIS) Officer Alvin D. Mariano which is a mobile application developed by DA-PRDP that is used in monitoring activities wherein the CM team can take pictures and videos with a tagged location, date, and time.

On the second day of training, the CM team was given the opportunity to use the tools they were taught with the guidance of the DA-PRDP staff and project engineers. The contractors gladly welcomed the CM team as they showed their construction facilities and developments on the construction site.

“Sa part po ng contractor, maganda po na pinatupad ng PRDP itong Citizens Monitoring para maipakita po sa mga farmers natin sa kooperatiba na quality at standard po ang ginagawa po naming construction at kung sakali po na may kulang kami at nakaligtaan ay may magpapaalala sa amin para sa ikagaganda ng ating project,” said the contractor’s Project Engineer Renato Empeño.

(“In our part as the contractor, it’s good that the PRDP implements the Citizens Monitoring so we could show our farmers in the cooperative our quality and standard construction and in case that we would have inadequacies or have forgotten something, they’ll be able to call out or remind us for the betterment of the project.”)

Construction of the facility began on June 17, 2022, and is expected to be completed on March 2023. (Ram Bill Bautista, RPCO3 InfoACE)