Okayed PRDP projects up to P3B as of August – DA

CEBU, Philippines - Infrastructure projects approved under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) increased to P3.02 billion as of last month, the Department of Agriculture said.

Based on a DA report, the amount of approved infrastructure projects significantly jumped from P230 million as of end-2014.

On the other hand, the amount of enterprise development projects approved for funding also doubled in the last eight months to P78.65 million for 10 projects from P35.88 million for only 2 as of end-2014.

In the DA report, PRDP National Project Deputy Director Arnel De Mesa said 70 out of the country's 80 provinces have already signed memorandum of agreement with PRDP, up from 58 as of December 2014.

At least 69 Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIP) are already approved. PCIP is a plan that rationalizes the interventions within the segments of the value chain of commodities vital to the province.

Approved value chain analysis (VCA) also increased to 33. VCA is a tool used to assess the state of a certain industry.

One of the approved VCAs is that of the seaweed industry in Central Visayas.

In Region 7, about P429 million worth of infra projects for Cebu and Bohol had already been endorsed to PRDP's National Project Coordination Office.

The endorsement, DA-7 Agribusiness Chief Gerry Avila, signals the likelihood of the projects' implementation.

In fact, one of these projects -- a farm-to-market road in Sagbayan, Bohol -- has already started construction early last month.

This is the first implemented PRDP-funded project in Central Visayas.

DA is the lead implementing agency for the World Bank-funded and the P27.5-billion PRDP. It is a six-year national project. — Carlo S. Lorenciana (FREEMAN)