Representatives from the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Project Support Office (PSO) South Luzon and the Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) MIMAROPA, together with Local Government Unit (LGU) members and residents of San Teodoro, attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the 5.25-kilometer Concreting of Barangay Bigaan – Saclag, Caagutayan Farm to Market Road (FMR) with Bridge on April 19, 2022.
The groundbreaking ceremony was led by DA-PRDP RPCO MIMAROPA Regional Executive Director Antonio Gerundio, CESO III, DPA, Deputy Project Director Engineer Annielyn Del Rosario, and San Teodoro Mayor Salvador Py.
The Concreting of Barangay Bigaan – Saclag, Caagutayan FMR with Bridge has a total subproject cost of PhP95,054,526.75, and is expected to benefit 4,664 people under 999 households within its Road Influence Area (RIA). The said RIA has a size of 1,755 hectares; 70% of which is agricultural land planted with coconut, banana, rice, rambutan, lanzones, citrus, mango, durian, dragon fruit, corn, vegetables, and abaca.
The construction of the 5.25-kilometer FMR officially started on May 02, 2022, and is expected to be completed by the end of August 2023.
In his opening remarks, Mayor Py represented the people of San Teodoro in extending their gratitude to the DA-PRDP for granting the subproject. He said that the FMR will be beneficial to both agriculture and tourism in the affected barangays.
“Ito pong proyekto na ito ay ipinagpapa-salamat ko sa LGU at sa lahat po ng tumulong sa amin na maisakatuparan ang proyekto na ito. Ito po ay nagkaka-halaga ng PhP97 million [sic]. Iyan pong daan na ‘yan from Bigaan to Camatis ay masesementuhan na po. Ang purpose po ng proyekto na ito ay para maging upland farming ang Bungkod, at maibalik ang sigla ng mga turista na bibisita sa ating barangay,” Mayor Py said.
The FMR with Bridge is the fourth DA-PRDP infrastructure subproject in the province of Oriental Mindoro, with the three (3) other infrastructure projects already complete. To date, the DA-PRDP has five (5) more subprojects in the province undergoing procurement, while there are four (4) more subprojects in the pipeline. (Danica A. Brutas, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)
