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| The groundbreaking ceremony for the Brgy. Hinugacan-Villahermosa Farm-to-Market Road in Gandara, Samar, was successfully conducted by DA's RPCO 8. Photo: DA-Eastern Visayas |
Despite the inclement weather brought by Tropical Storm Paeng, the Department of Agriculture's Philippine Rural Development Project (RPCO 8) successfully held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Brgy. Hinugacan-Villahermosa Farm-to-Market Road in Gandara, Samar.
"Yana nga adlaw mahinungdanon gud ha aton kay finally, finally magstart na in inga kalsada tikang Hinugacan-Villahermosa Farm to Market Road (This day is very memorable for us because finally the construction of this Brgy. Hinugacan to Brgy. Villahermosa Farm to Market Road is about to start),” said Hon. Sharee Ann Tan, Governor of the Province of Samar.
She shared that the covered municipalities have been waiting for this project since it was proposed in 2017. "The project of PRDP is very tedious. Grabe an dokumento namon nga paghihimuon. I know that there were glitches and some problems along the way while we were processing the documents especially nga nag-agi kita han pandemya nakurian kami han pagfollow-up (PRDP project is very tedious. We had to process a lot of documents. I know that there were glitches and some problems along the way while we were processing the documents, especially since we experienced this pandemic which made it difficult for us to follow-up)," she said.
This FMR is 9.9 kilometers long and will benefit three municipalities in the province: Gandara, Tarangnan, and Pagsanghan, with a total agricultural area of 4,553 hectares. These municipalities are thought to have good agricultural potential for various commodities such as rice, corn, vegetable, sweet potato, cassava, gabi, banana, and coconut.
RED Angel Enriquez, RPCO 8 Project Director, encouraged community members to personally monitor the progress of the construction as it began, as this could also contribute to the project's success.
"We are really looking forward that through the help of this project, this could really change the lives of the farmers, not just the farmers but most especially the economic status of the communities. And we are really hoping for Samar to finally produce their own vegetables," she said.
She emphasized that farm-to-market roads are one of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.'s priorities as Secretary of Agriculture because he believes agriculture will be fully developed if more investments are made in agri-infrastructures.
RED Enriquez also appreciated the Samar Provincial Local Government Unit for making this project possible. "This may take months before we finally enjoy the benefits of this project, but we are a step ahead of achieving it. May this be a start of something fruitful not just for our farmers but for every Samarnon who is set to prosper through the help of this farm-to-market road," she said.
Also present in the said activity was Cong. Stephen James Tan of the 1st District of Samar and some of the Local Chief Executives came to witness and show their support for the said project.