Since the start of the third quarter, the management of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) in the MIMAROPA Region has started to conduct courtesy visits and meetings with the newly elected local chief executives who won the recently held elections.

The members of the regional technical staff, together with the consultants from the South Luzon cluster office, met first with the various local public officials of the Provinces of Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque and the Municipality of Roxas, Palawan.

With already existing interventions under PRDP, the orientation aims to inform the new local government officials of the Project’s implementation guidelines in accordance with World Bank standards. Emphasis was particularly made on financial concerns, procurement methods and social and environmental safeguard requirements especially for new proposals.

“The challenge that we are giving you now is to increase the amount of your current number of subprojects because it’s really almost the same level of effort. Think about the possibility of clustering them. Rather than benefiting just one cooperative, you go for multiple cooperatives working together,” said South Luzon cluster Deputy Project Director Shandy Hubilla, during the orientation in Oriental Mindoro.

The PRDP, implemented under the Department of Agriculture (DA), is one of the special programs that provides interventions to improve the socio-economic condition of local communities by way of collaboration with various municipal, city and provincial governments.

With the advent of a new term for public office, through the directive of DA MIMAROPA Regional Executive Director, Antonio Gerundio, the PRDP team also invited and initiated separate discussions with the Municipalities of Naujan and Bongabong in Oriental Mindoro; Boac in Marinduque; and Taytay, Aborlan, Narra and Rizal in Palawan.

The discussions were channeled not only to inform but also encourage these local government units to affiliate themselves with the Project to enable their communities to take advantage of its agricultural support and interventions. The orientation focused on documentary requirements, types of interventions for specific commodities, board approval, cost sharing between parties and process flows.

“It is a big challenge for us. This is why we are taking a look first at our capacity, financially and in terms of the workforce that we have. But, we are also looking at the bigger picture. The impacts of PRDP projects are big. Rest assured that we will be doing whatever is needed for us to be able to benefit from this,” said Municipal Administrator Bobie Navarro of Naujan.

“Hopefully, those that we have invited can submit their initial requirements so that we can conduct an advisory board meeting as soon as possible for the approval of the subprojects that they may propose,” said Deputy Project Director Alex Ronquillo of PRDP MIMAROPA.

At present, there are seven local government units in MIMAROPA connected with the PRDP with a total of 14 infrastructure and 27 enterprise subprojects catering the region’s priority commodities, including those implemented in recognized marine protected areas. ### (Leira Vic Colongon, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)

South Luzon cluster I-REAP Component Head John Darel Colarina (far right), in dark green) explains all about the enterprise development interventions of the Philippine Rural Development Project during the orientation of newly-elected Governor Humerlito Dolor (far right, in blue) of Oriental Mindoro.

Consultants from the MIMAROPA Regional Project Coordination Office, together with the members of the Municipal Local Government Unit of Boac, gathers to discuss about how to avail of interventions provided by the Philippine Rural Development Project.

Gov. Presbitero Velasco Jr (center) of Marinduque meets with the PRDP MIMAROPA and South Luzon cluster top management, during the consultation with the I-REAP beneficiaries in the province, led by South Luzon’s Deputy Project Director Shandy Hubilla (left from center). MIMAROPA’s Regional Project Director Antonio Gerundio, with Deputy Project Director Alex Ronquillo, meanwhile, discussed with the newly elected governor the current status of Marinduque’s subprojects including both ongoing and pipeline. (Photo by Ana Francesca Chavez)