Determined to finish the implementation of its first farm-to-market road (FMR) on time, the Municipal Local Government Unit (MLGU) of Ramon, Isabela, led by Hon. Mayor Jesus D. Laddaran held the ground breaking ceremonies of Oscariz-Nagbacalan FMR earlier today, with Regional Executive Director Narciso A. Edillo, gracing the occasion.

“This is the first project the municipality of Ramon directly supervises. We have partnered with the Department of Agriculture through the Philippine Rural Development Project or PRDP. I encourage everyone to cooperate with us and see that it will be implemented well. Let there be no innuendos that it was constructed and it fell short of what is expected on us,” Mayor Laddaran said.

The 6.8 kilometer- FMR which amounts to 127 million pesos has barangays Oscariz, Villa Beltran, Purok Ni Bulan, Burgos, Nagbacalan, and Bugallon Norte in Ramon and San Marcos in San Mateo in its Road Influence Area (RIA). Further, it also facilitates the agricultural activities in barangay Bantug, Alicia, Isabela.

Meanwhile, RED Narciso A. Edillo stressed that PRDP, despite its stringent requirements brings about inclusive growth in the countryside with its science-based tools such as Geomapping and Governance (GGU), Expanded Vulnerability and Suitability Assessment (E-VSA) and the use of geotagged photos to document the activities during the implementation phase.

Laddaran emphasized that the LGU has monitoring teams and the residents and beneficiaries have been trained in Citizens Monitoring through the Barangay Inspectorate Teams (BITs). He informed that the transparency and accountability will be observed throughout the implementation of the subproject.

Another FMR of Ramon, Gen. Aguinaldo-Planas FMR awaits No Objection Letter from the National Project Coordination Office (NPCO). (Dr. Ferdinand N. Cortez, RPCO2 InfoACE)