By Mike Crismundo BUTUAN CITY – In an effort to provide high social and economic benefits for Mindanao, the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Projects (DA-PRDP) is given additional financing of P8.4 billion from the World Bank (WB), it was learned today. World Bank
(Manila Bulletin) In a statement sent to The Manila Bulletin today, PRDP Mindanao Director Ricardo M. Oñate, Jr. said this additional PRDP financing will identify more projects that would provide the highest social and economic benefits with technical and economic viability. The PRDP director added that this huge additional amount will surely boost the ongoing economic activity in Mindanao. Meanwhile, the DA-PRDP is conducting a nationwide information caravan to fast-track information dissemination on infrastructure development priority scheme with local government units (LGUs). In a the same statement, the DA-PRDP said the prioritization scheme is a tool designed for the project to rationalize the selection of best subprojects from a long list of proposals from LGUs under the Intensive Building Up of Infrastructure and Logistics Development or IBUILD component. For Mindanao cluster, Region 10 recently completed the rounds in its five provinces which include Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental. The other five — Region 9, 11, 12,ARMM and CARAGA Region — are scheduled to roll out next week. “This prioritization scheme will increase diversity in our IBUILD projects where our focus will not only be more on farm-to-market road but also in other infrastructure development,” Oñate said. The activity includes presentation of the prioritization scheme framework, different prioritization criteria and scoring system. Ranked priority is given to the projects that will reach 117 points with maximum of 233 points while automatic priority worth 300 points is given to LGU with no prior involvement in PRDP; LGU having already submitted IBUILD proposals but yet to attain approval of any proposed subproject; and LGU with approved IREAP SP but no IBUILD SP. A bonus of 10 points is also given for climate resiliency plan. DA Northern Mindanao regional director Carlene C. Collado, during the info caravan in Bukidnon, encouraged all the participants from municipal and provincial LGUs to work on their proposals to implement more projects in rural areas of Northern Mindanao. Northern Mindanao (Region 10) now has 50 IBUILD subprojects (SPs) with 37 farm-to-market-roads (FMRs), three FMRs with bridge, one irrigation system, one potable water system, and eight other infrastructure projects. “All infrastructure development subprojects must be in line with the Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIPs) — except for potable water system — to maximize potential impacts of rural development projects in each region,” Collado said.