To support the enhancement of the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Plan (AFMP), Agusan del Sur has started to incorporate the use of the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) in identifying and implementing projects.

The province has integrally linked the PCIP with the decision support processes and instruments such as the Provincial Physical Framework Plan and Provincial Development Plan.

“Provincial Local Government Unit (PLGU) through its PPMIU convened together with the organized farmers’ associations, industry players and its municipal counterparts to review and enhance the quality of the province’s PCIP,” said Provincial Project Management Implementing Unit (PPMIU) Head Engr. Deanna Fudalan.

The PLGU identified the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) and non-PRDP sources of funding to the PCIP and facilitated its integration in the planning and budgeting processes. “The PCIP has helped us in prioritizing the projects for the enhancement of our rubber commodity in the province,” Fudalan said.

“I really appreciate the preparation of the PCIP. Projects were identified with proper basis. We can also see the value chain of the commodity where we identify the right intervention for the farmers,” said Fudalan.

Fudalan added that aside from the Value Chain Analysis (VCA), the Expanded Vulnerability and Suitability Assessment (e-VSA) also aided them in reviewing and approving various proposals.

The e-VSA is a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tool that takes into account the combined analysis of vulnerability and suitability as well as socio-economic conditions of a particular area. With this, the PLGU can defend the technical and scientific project prioritization basis.

The Bayugan Rubber Producers Cooperative (BARUPCO) who’s also a recipient of PRDP’s P20 million enterprise subproject actively took part in crafting the PCIP.

“We were directly involved in creating the PCIP. The ongoing construction of the 22.6 km road project in Bayugan connecting to San Luis has encouraged our members to expand rubber production,” said BARUPCO General Manager Esmael Elevazo.

The PCIP contains priority programs and projects that aims to increase marketable surplus through investment on strategic rural infrastructure and livelihood enterprises. It is a three-year rolling plan that contains investment opportunities and strategic interventions for the development of priority commodities. It is PRDP’s main basis for selecting eligible subprojects for funding.

The pour of intervention from another fund source

The PCIP crafted in 2017 by the PLGU of Agusan del Sur has been used by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) through its Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces (CMGP) as basis to fund another eight road concreting projects in the identified rubber producing municipalities of the province based on e-VSA.

“It wasn’t hard for DILG-CMGP to identify the areas to pour its intervention since all the factors that help in decision-making are in place in the PCIP,” Fudalan said.

Fudalan said that the province’s flagship commodity is rubber and all the probable interventions from different agencies use the PCIP as the valuable source in identifying the projects to boost the rubber industry.

The PCIP is one of PRDP’s innovations that rationalizes the interventions within the various segments of the value chain of commodities that are significant in the province and that will contribute to the national goals of agriculture and fishery sectors. (Fretcher Magatao, RPCO-Caraga)