No Objection Letter II (NOL 2) was issued to three Level II Potable Water System (PWS) subprojects in Ifugao Province amounting to a total of P9 million, for implementation under the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP).

The approved subprojects include the construction of Cambulo Level II Water System (P2.58 M), Bangaan Level II Water System (P3.35 M), and Poitan Level II Water System (P3.15 M) – all located in the municipality of Banaue. Since these are repackaged subprojects, financed under the Original Loan, the construction activities must be completed before the end of 2022.

The NOL 2 was issued by the Regional Project Coordination Office-CAR (RPCO-CAR) as agreed during the 11^th World Bank Implementation Support Mission held last November 2020.

According to Engr. Roiston Z. Carame, RPCO-CAR Procurement Officer, the World Bank has approved the delegation and the prior review threshold of contracts below US$ 100,000 or P5 million for both I-BUILD (infrastructure) and I-REAP (enterprise) subprojects to the RPCOs.

“Though it was approved at the RPCO level, the inspection and monitoring of subproject implementation will still be jointly steered by the RPCO and the Project Support Office (PSO) with the proponent LGU,” he added.

As part of the PRDP implementation process, a pre-construction conference will soon be conducted to discuss specific implementation guidelines and processes including the requirements for disbursement, among others.

Meanwhile, only one PWS was completed out of the five water system subprojects in Banaue that were approved in 2017. The rest, including the above said subprojects, were terminated due to “contractor’s abandonment” and were repackaged.

Recently, another water system subproject in the municipality of Lagawe was endorsed by the Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB-CAR) for the issuance of NOL 1. The subproject proposal is currently under PSO and National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) review. ### ELVY TAQUIO ESTACIO (DA-PRDP)