TANZA, CAVITE – Representatives from different divisions of the DA-RFO CALABARZON attended a mainstreaming activity on Rapid Appraisal of Emerging Benefits (RAEB) of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) CALABARZON – Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Unit last February 5 to 7.

RAEB is a M&E framework to determine the success of each project and how these are relevant in achieving its goals – in PRDP’s case, it’s project development objectives – within the span of at least one year. It specifically gathers both primary and secondary data to evaluate the immediate feedback of whether the desired outcomes and stream of benefits are likely or unlikely to be achieved. The RAEB team, composed of representatives from various units, gather data through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, household surveys, and spot (man-on-the-street) interviews.

“This is beneficial for us especially on the monitoring side as this can be adapted for DA regular activities. It’s also a good way not just to gather quantitative data but also qualitative, to provide better picture on how our programs and projects give benefits and help our beneficiaries have their own success stories,” Amor de la Cruz, Project Evaluation Officer, said.

The M&E Officer Michael Joe Gonzaga of PRDP CALABARZON and M&E Specialist Arvin San Juan of PRDP South Luzon served as resource speakers. They discussed the basic data gathering and the tools and processes of RAEB. A simulation of household questionnaire survey was also done.

For Engineer Pelagia Peren, the learnings they received from the resource speakers are very important. She and her co-employees appreciated the need to still monitor the project even after its has been completed. “Hindi lang natatapos ang proyekto sa pagtatapos nito (Our role to the project does not end just because its been physically accomplished),” she further said.

Participants for this workshop and mainstreaming activity are the staff from the Regional Agricultural Engineering Division (RAED); Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Division (PMED); and the Office of the Regional Executive Director. Members of PRDP CALABARZON RAEB Team were also present.

Aside from RAEB framework, Gonzaga also led the discussion on Program of Works (POW) Calculator for RAED staff as well as forms for the Regional Project Monitoring and Evaluation System (RPMES) for the PMED representatives. – Lawrence Albert Bariring, DA-PRDP CALABARZON RPCO InfoACE Unit