South Upi Mayor Abdulah Campong poses with other officials during a ground-breaking ceremony in the the town. And Engineer Renato Sarikit, the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator, reads the Mindanao Examiner regional newspaper in his office during a break. (Mindanao Examiner Photo – Mark Navales)
MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 8, 2014) – The municipal government of South Upi in Maguindanao province is set to start various projects as part of its priority program that would largely benefit its constituents.
Engineer Renato Sarikit, the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator, said more than P25 million in funds have been released to municipal government for livelihood and infrastructure projects.
He said some P10.9 million is intended for potable water system in the villages. The fund, which was originally set in 2013, was only released this year.
He said about P15 million which was approved during the “Bottom-up Budgeting” has also been released this year. It will fund various livelihood and infrastructure programs in South Upi.
“We are now preparing to implement all these projects which are among the priority programs of Mayor Abdulah Campong,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner, adding the mayor is actively involved in peace and development advocacy in the province and one of the strong supporters of President Benigno Aquino in the promotion of peace in this part of the region.
Sarikit said they are still waiting for the P100 million farm-to-market road project released in 2012 under the government’s “Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan” program or PAMANA.
He said the funding was already released to the Philippine Army’s Engineer Battalion for the supposed construction of the 13-kilometer long road that straddles the villages of Lamud and Biarong.
“We are waiting for the engineer battalion, which is tasked to carry out the farm-to-market project that is expected to hasten the transport of farm produce and benefit some 4,000 villagers here in South Upi,” he said.
He said the high cost of transporting farm produce is affecting the productivity of the farmers and the local economy.
PAMANA is President Benigno Aquino’s program and framework for peace and development in areas affected by armed conflict and communities covered by existing peace agreements. It seeks to reduce poverty, improve governance and empower communities. The program, which literally means “Peaceful and Resilient Communities,” is expected to benefit the town’s folks.
The program, which was originally implemented by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), has been allotted a total of P1.9 billion.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government component of the program has a funding of P968.9 million, while other allocations were distributed among the Department of Social Welfare and Development (P586.7 million), Department of Agrarian Reform (P17.6 million) and OPAPP (P329.3 million).
The fund for the program will be used for development projects, such as infrastructure and livelihood, in 165 cities and municipalities in 30 conflict-hit provinces.
Maguindanao is one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao. (Mark Navales)
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