LEGAZPI CITY, ALBAY – The Department of Agriculture Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Bicol advisory board has approved 24 infrastucture development (I-BUILD) subprojects worth a total of P3.80 billion.

In a meeting held in this city on October 11, 2019, five members of the Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB) from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Regional Agricultural and Fishery Council (RAFC) reviewed and approved P2.62 billion-worth plans proposed for PRDP funding by the Province of Masbate, local government units of Placer, Cawayan, Uson, Balud and Mobo in Masbate. The RPAB also approved four proposed I-BUILD subprojects in Albay amounting to P671.59 million, four subprojects in Camarines Sur with an aggregate amount worth P283.200 million and one subproject in Catanduanes which costs P227.93 million.

Likewise, the advisory board approved the repackaged proposals for the P84.54 million-worth Upgrading of Nakalaya to Sta. Elena Farm-to-Market Road in Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte and the P79.30 million-worth Construction of Cumadcad to Canjela Farm-to-Market Road in Castilla, Sorsogon. The said subprojects were approved by the RPAB because of their comparative advantage to the agri-fishery sector in their respective localities.

Present during the RPAB meeting were Governor Antonio Kho of Masbate and eight local chief executives namely Mayor Eusebio Domoran Jr. of Placer, Masbate, Mayor Edgar Condor of Cawayan, Masbate, Mayor Jaime Villanueva of Tiwi, Albay, Mayor Andy Mariscotes of Polangui, Albay, Mayor Marcel Pan of Goa, Camarines Sur, Mayor Lilian Matamorosa of Lupi, Camarines Sur, Mayor Ronaldo Franco of Pamplona, Camarines Sur, Mayor Ariel Non of Jose Panganiban.  

If approved at the national level, the said I-BUILD subprojects will add to PRDP-Bicol’s 86 approved, ongoing and completed subprojects worth a total of P5.59 billion as of October 8, 2019. The RPAB is an inter-agency multidisciplinary team chaired by the Regional Executive Director of the DA mandated to review and approve plans, feasibility studies, detailed engineering designs and program of works proposed for PRDP funding. (Annielyn L. Baleza, DA-RAFIS V)