“We are here to talk about our subprojects – the issues and concerns hindering the implementation and of course provide solutions to these problems.”

This was emphasized by Engr. Danilo P. Daguio, Regional Deputy Project Director of the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) as he delivered his message during the 3^rd quarter joint performance assessment workshop with Local Government Unit (LGU) partners.

Held on September 12-13 in Baguio City, the event gathered Provincial and Municipal Project Management and Implementing Units (P/MPMIUs) as direct implementers of PRDP-funded subprojects in the Cordillera to present and review the Project’s performance in terms of physical and financial accomplishments.

“Our objective is to complete implemented subprojects, to continue and not to terminate them,” added Daguio as he urged the participants to voice out problems regarding the implementation of PRDP subprojects to seek for solutions instead of termination.

Way forward for PRDP Cordillera

To update the participants on the physical and financial status of PRDP subprojects in the region, Jason Budas and Herdie Daysa from the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Accounting Units presented the numbers.

As of September 3, six Value Chain Analyses (VCA) have been approved and one under review. All six provinces have Provincial Development Council (PDC)-approved Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIP).

Under the Infrastructure Development (I-BUILD) component, it was reported that the region have a share of P5.78 billion in its portfolio (approved + pipelined). Kalinga has the biggest cost share among the provinces amounting to P1.58 million followed by Benguet with P1.31M and Ifugao with P1.26M. The total number of approved infrastructure subprojects in the region has gone up to 49 – six of these are completed, 30 are under implementation, and 13 under procurement. In addition, there are 34 pipelined subprojects proposed for funding under the PRDP.

For the Enterprise Development (I-REAP) component, there are 49 approved subprojects amounting to P134M – a huge jump from the 38 subprojects approved last January. Of these, 10 are already completed, 27 are under implementation, and 12 under procurement.

Daysa further presented the disbursement status of I-BUILD and I-REAP subprojects for January to August 31, 2018. To date, the region has disbursed 57% of the target for I-BUILD subprojects for January to August. However, the region still needs to speed up to meet the disbursement target for the whole year with 72% more.

On the other hand, the region has only disbursed 27% of the target for I-REAP subprojects for January to August. With this, provinces and municipalities with ongoing enterprise subprojects shall fast track procurement and disbursement of funds to catch up with the 78% variance to meet the target for the whole year.

Daguio then challenged the LGUs to work on the disbursement targets for the year because the overall performance of the region is being measured in terms of financial accomplishment and not just in terms of physical accomplishment.

Meanwhile, RPCO-CAR component and unit heads together with the consultants addressed issues and answered queries from the P/MPMIUs. Among the recommendations for the issues that were raised included conducting orientation on World Bank Harmonized Procurement Guidelines in the provinces with new BAC members; serving Purchase Orders (POs) within the validity period to prevent re-programming; availing of Contractor’s All Risk Insurance (CARI) to cover damages/ losses caused by natural calamities; and the provision of checklist for billing to avoid delays among others.

The presentation of accomplishments followed a breakout session for each component/ unit to discuss action plans and set timelines for ongoing and approved subprojects to improve financial and physical accomplishments.

P/MPMIUs were also advised to consider the duration of additional subprojects being proposed since the PRDP is set to end on 2021.

“All subprojects should have been completed by the end of 2020 since the last year will be for payment, monitoring and turnover of subprojects,” said Daguio adding that the Project will no longer fund unfinished subprojects by 2021.

The event concluded with insights from LGU representatives as they accept the challenge posed by Daguio on providing solutions to finish subprojects rather than terminating them.

“The bottom line of our work is for the development of municipalities and provinces in the Cordillera. The PRDP’s development interventions can only be meaningful when everyone work together for our clients – the farmers,” said Apayao PPMIU Head Prudencio G. Bosing.

Expressing the same sentiment, Atty. Amador Batay-an, Mt. Province Provincial Administrator cited that they were challenged by the presentation of Kalinga and the statements of DPD Daguio.

“Let us challenge our partners; we will make Kalinga as an example, accept the challenge and continue the project instead of terminating it,” said Batay-an. ### (ELVY S. TAQUIO, RPCO-CAR InfoACE)

Benguet Governor Crescencio C. Pacalso (1st from right) joins his team, the PPMIU Benguet during the 3rd Quarter Joint Performance Assessment Workshop.