VIRAC, CATANDUANES – A total of P150.83 million-worth subprojects funded under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) are now being implemented in the island province to support its priority commodities, particularly, abaca and mangrove crabs.

On February 11-15, 2019, a team from the PRDP Project Support Office (PSO) South Luzon and Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO)-Bicol trooped to the island province to monitor the progress of the subprojects’ implementation.

PRDP PSO South Luzon Deputy Project Director Shandy Hubilla and PRDP-Bicol Deputy Project Director Adelina Losa joined the Project’s infrastructure development (I-BUILD) and enterprise development (I-REAP) consultants in conducting site inspection at the Construction of the Main and Satellite Warehouse Building in Viga and Bato, this province, and the Mangrove Crab Production and Marketing Enterprise in Jose Panganiban to ensure the quality of project implementation.

Hubilla and Losa met with project beneficiaries that is, the Panganiban Fisherfolk Association and the Pinoy Lingap-Damayan Multi-Purpose Cooperative to discuss issues affecting project implementation. They also conducted a Management Meeting and Orientation with Acting Governor Shirley Abundo.

Moreover, the team together with its national and local level planning (I-PLAN) consultants held a meeting with Catanduanes State University (CSU) President Dr. Minerva Morales, who shared the initial results of the research and development on Catanduanes Mangrove Resource Mapping and Stakeholders’ Engagement for Sustainable Crab Industry Development.

On the other hand, the PRDP Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, facilitated the Commodity Investment Plan Module Updating and Encoding simultaneously.

Other ongoing PRDP subprojects in Catanduanes are the P500,000-worth Commercial Palay Production in Pandan and the TAFFIA Broiler Production and Marketing which amounts to P371,920. The P126.99 million-worth Concreting of Junction Sabangan-Datag East Farm-to-Market Road in Caramoran is now for implementation.

The series of PRDP activities in Catanduanes was conducted in preparation for the upcoming 8th World Bank Implementation Support Mission on the first week of June 2019. # (Annielyn L. Baleza, DA-RAFIS V)

PRDP PSO South Luzon Deputy Project Director Shandy Hubilla (5th from right) provides updates about the Mangrove Crab Production and Marketing Enterprise with Panganiban Mayor Robert Fernandez, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC) and other project stakeholders.

PRDP PSO South Luzon Deputy Project Director Shandy Hubilla joins the site inspection for the two-storey Mangrove Crab Trading Center/Office in Panganiban, Catanduanes.

(Photos by Annielyn L. Baleza, DA-RAFIS V)