MALAYBALAY CITY (PIA)—The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) turned over a completed Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) in Malaybalay City, December 22, 2022.

Amalia A. Propia, DILG city local government operations officer, said the finished P8.5 million FMR will help people in Barangay Kulaman and nearby communities, especially with getting farm products to nearby markets.

Records showed that Barangay Kulaman is one of the conflict-affected barangays in the city.

After the institutionalization of Executive Order No. 70, which establishes engagements and campaigns to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC), through the Community Support Program (CSP) of the Philippine Army, Barangay Kulaman has been declared insurgency-free and is included in the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP).

Malaybalay City Mayor Jay Warren R. Pabillaran said the road project has been one of the top concerns of the city and barangay local government units because it will help more than 200 upland farmers and enhance local economic activities.

"One of the great benefits that this program can provide is the opportunity to speed up the delivery of our farmers’ products to our market, as the government sees the needs of each barangay," the mayor said.

Zaldy Singatao, barangay councilor and head of the infrastructure committee, asked residents to help keep peace and harmony in the barangay so that it could grow and improve.

"Ang kalinaw og kahusayan nga nabatian karon sa atong barangay mao'y resulta sa malampusong paghuman sa road project. Karon pa kita nakatagamtam sa dakong pundo diin kita mismo ang maka pili sa dapatan niini. Busa, akong gi-awhag ang tanan lumulopyo sa pagmintinar sa kalinaw ug pag suporta sa tanang programa sa atong kagamhanan," Singatao said.

(The peace and efficiency that now pervade our barangay are indeed the results of the road project's successful completion. It's the first time we were given the privilege to identify the projects that will be implemented in our barangay. I urge my fellow villagers to maintain peace and support all of our government's programs)

The barangay was allocated P20 million under the SBDP to fund three priority projects, including the improvement of the level III water supply system worth P4 million and two FMR projects worth P7.5 and P8.5 million.

Officials from the Philippine Army's 8th Infantry Battalion, the Philippine National Police, the city engineering office, and members of Kulaman Barangay Council also graced the occasion. (DILG-Bukidnon/PIA-10/ Bukidnon)