The Concreting of Lauan to Tud-ol Farm-to-Market Road, spanning 9.82 kilometers and worth Php 158,933,007 million, was turned over by the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) to beneficiary barangays Tungao and San Mateo in Butuan City on November 10 at Purok 27, Brgy. Tungao, Butuan City.

Before the concrete road, farmers, producers, and community members endured long and arduous journeys to get to Tungao and vice-versa. Spoiled and damaged goods from long hours of traveling through a dangerous road became the norm for farmers trying to get their products delivered to the market. Community members also had difficulty accessing services, leading to adverse, if not life-endangering effects, to their health.

The completion of the FMR signals an increased access to businesses, markets, suppliers, and community services.

“The Higaunon tribe is grateful as motorcycles delivering bananas to Tungao will no longer be beaten up on the way there. Before the completion of the FMR, these vehicles would crash, leading to damaged goods that would have to be returned as they would never sell in the market. We are extremely grateful that the concreting of the road is now compete,” says Datu Danilo Pina-andel, the tribal leader of the Higaunon tribe.

Aside from the easy access the concrete road provides, it also opens the barangays to unique opportunities that may not have been possible otherwise.

“We now have an opportunity to consolidate our farmers’ products. As a cooperative, we can now receive and gather their products easily: their vegetables can be gathered here in the co-op and we will handle the rest, including marketing,” says Nilo R. Calipayan, the manager of the KM-7 Farmers Producer Cooperative.

Now that the concreting of the Lauan to Tud-ol Farm-to-Market Road has been turned over, what remains is a matter of monitoring and sustaining the project for generations to come.

“Our challenge now is to nurture, maintain, sustain, and take advantage of these projects. May these projects inspire us to become agents of peace and development in our community, in our city, and in the Caraga region,” says Engr. Pierre Anthony Joven, City Agriculturist.

In attendance at the turn-over were Butuan City Councilor Hon. Arturo P. Gado, RPCO Deputy Project Director Jodel Tabada, Barangay captains Hon. Danilo D. Diaz from San Mateo and Hon. Melchor E. Salboro from Tungao, City Agriculturist Engr. Pierre Anthony Joven, Datu Danilo from the Higaunon tribe, Nilo Calipayan from the KM7 Farmers Producer Cooperative and representatives from MINDA, NCIP, and Badsbro Construction and General Merchandise.

The FMR was funded by the World Bank and the Philippine Government through the Department of Agriculture, in partnership with LGU Butuan City headed by Hon. Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada.(Nicole Talatala/DAPRDP13-InfoACE)