CEBU CITY -- The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), through its Foreign Assisted and Special Projects Office (FASPO), has constructed 107 bridges in the countryside for 2021.

DAR Secretary Bernie Cruz said that out of the targeted 186 bridges for 2021, the DAR was able to facilitate the construction of 107 bridges nationwide through the FASPO.

“We didn’t stop implementing [the project], but the pandemic slowed us down with the construction of these bridges. At present, there are 49 ongoing bridge construction, 30 in the pre-construction stage, and 22 additional bridges for construction in the countryside this year,” Cruz said at the agency’s 2021 year-end assessment and 2022 direction setting held here.

The construction of the bridges was made possible under the Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Kaunlarang Pang-Agraryo (TPKP project), funded by France, monitored by DAR, and implemented by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Cruz said the TPKP project plays a vital role in uplifting the standards of living of farmer-beneficiaries in the province as it enables them to transport their harvests from their farms to the market with ease.

“We are very proud to have a project such as this for it helps enhance the economic life of our farmer-beneficiaries,” he said.

Cruz said the TPKP is based on the criteria that it must be implemented in an agrarian reform community (ARC), with no existing roads on both sides, must have 28 linear meters from bank to bank, and must be implemented in a municipal road.

In her progress report, DAR Undersecretary Virginia Orogo said the bridge project that links the road network within the ARC barangays has led to the improvement of the economic welfare of thousands of agrarian reform beneficiaries in farming communities nationwide.

She said the 107 bridges constructed nationwide are now contributing to the provinces’ economic development.

"Before the construction of these bridges, most farmers and residents had to cross rivers, muddy roads, flooded roads, or go around a longer route to avoid these obstacles. Thanks to TPKP, crops, and agri-products from all over have found easier access to the primary consumer market in provinces, it even reaches markets in Manila. Tools and materials and other needs of the farmers and their communities can now easily be transported,” Orogo said. (DAR)