Department of Agriculture – Bottom-up Budgeting (BUB) Program officially turned-over the Farm to Market Road (FMR) with 200m Hanging Foot-Bridge worth P11 million at Brgy. Poblacion and Brgy. Tagoyango, Sibagat Agusan del Sur last February 17.  “The farmers including the residents in our barangay are very grateful for the newly constructed hanging foot-bridge.  This project will help us farmers to reduce the transportation cost of our agricultural products at least at one peso per kilo. The residents in Brgy. Poblacion and Brgy. Kioya were also relieved as the bridge will give us easier access in times of calamities and emergencies,” said Fe M. Sarabia, Chairperson of Taguyango Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

The said project implemented by DA 13 was made possible through the partnership between the Local Government Unit (LGU) and the Civil Society Organization (CSO). LGU-Sibagat gave P2 Million as counterpart in establishing the project.

“BUB is a concept from bottom-to-top planning and budgeting. It aims to achieve community empowerment by encouraging citizens from grassroots to take active roles in the community by articulating their needs to the government and determining what projects are responsive to their needs,” explained Edelmira Luminarias, DA 13-BUB Focal Person.

The newly constructed hanging foot-bridge from Brgy. Poblacion and Brgy. Tagoyango is now an artery that links farmlands in the Poblacion to the national highway. It is the result of the convergence of plans and priorities as projects are harmonized through DA’s program and allocated budget.

“In our personal counterpart as one of the beneficiary of this project, we are now planning to make a local ordinance in our barangay to regulate the usage and protect  the hanging foot-bridge from the abusive locals in the area. This will be our actions to ensure sustainability of government projects and show value to the intervention we have received,” said Honorable Julieta A. Sotto, Brgy. Captain of Tagoyango.

Today DA-BUB FMR with hanging foot-bridge project serves a total of 1,560 farmers from Brgy. Poblacion, Brgy. Tagoyango, and Brgy. Kioya. The said project help the farmers and also the constituents of the 3 barangays gain easier access of transporting farm produce and also provide access to more opportunities as well as the basic social services in the community. (Rhea C. Abao, DA 13-Information Section)