The residents of Brgy. Pato-o Proper and Sitio Aurora in Odiongan, Romblon are the new project stakeholders of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) in the MIMAROPA Region.

Romblon recently received the no objection letter (NOL) for its first PRDP-approved sub-project, the “Construction of Brgy. Pato-o Proper–Sitio Aurora, Odiongan, Romblon farm-to-market road (FMR) with two bridges.”

The 5.8-kilometer FMR and two bridges will be constructed in the said area under the I-BUILD or infrastructure development component of PRDP primarily to provide the residents, especially the farmers, a better access to transportation.

With the sub-project cost of P155,067,000.00, the rural infrastructure to be funded by the World Bank, the Department of Agriculture, and the Province of Romblon also aims to reduce the travel time and cost in the marketing of agricultural goods.

Odiongan, a second class municipality located in Tablas that is one of the three major islands of Romblon, is the center of commerce and trade in the province. It is also one of the largest producers of coconut that is Romblon’s primary commodity.

Sitio Aurora, on the other hand, is only a portion of Brgy. Pato-o Proper. Residents are usually multi-crop farmers of coconut, banana, corn, vegetables, as well as some root crops. During harvest, these are delivered to market centers using habal-habal (motorcycles) since four-wheel vehicles do not have the capacity to traverse past the wooden bridge and through the mountainous terrain.

As a crossroad that links Odiongan through Brgy. Pato-o Proper and Sta. Maria through Brgy. Concepcion Norte, it also has a wide capacity to connect farmers to larger markets among nearby municipalities.

One of the bridges that will be constructed will replace the wooden bridge in Brgy. Pato-o Proper that will enable four-wheel vehicles to pass in the said area. (Photo by Leira Vic Colongon, DA-PRDP RPCO 4B InfoACE Unit)

In the long run, the FMR intends to motivate farmers to cultivate more lands to increase agricultural production and further improve not just the coconut industry but also the general agricultural trade in Romblon.

During the PRDP visit in Odiongan last July, Municipal Mayor Trina Alejandra Firmalo-Fabic expressed her appreciation of the newly approved project. Although initiated and will be implemented by the provincial government, according to her, this investment will be beneficial to the farmers’ welfare given that some of them still had to cross rivers just to transfer their goods.

At present, the Romblon Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit is in the process of preparing for the procurement stage of the project with assistance from the National Project Coordination Office, South Luzon Project Support Office, and MIMAROPA Regional Project Coordination Office. ### (Leira Vic Colongon, DA-PRDP RPCO 4B InfoACE Unit)