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Saturday, November 19, 2022 Vol. 18 No. 38
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Construction of rural roads sparks hope of emancipation among rural folks in volatile South
ROAD and bridge project in Bayang, Lanao del Sur. PHOTO COURTESY OF BANGSAMORO INFORMATION OFFICE
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By Manuel T. Cayon
MALL infrastructure they may be, but roads connecting farms to the market in the countryside are an important lifeblood for the country’s poor, many of them still wallowing in poverty due to isolation and inaccessibility to social services.
In highly rural Bangsamoro region (two provinces in Central Mindanao, three provinces in the southwesternmost tip of Mindanao, considered the country’s southern backdoor), the dire need to connect farms to the population centers remains to be a daunting task, constricting rural development and pinning down rural families to generational poverty. Recognizing this, local experts on agricultural and biosystem engineering have been working to improve rural connectivity and strengthen rural development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). In Cotabato City, the seat of the Bangsamoro Region, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) and the Philippine Society of Agricultural Biosystems and Engineering (PSABE) held the first summit on this issue. The November 8 to 11 regional summit on farm-to-market roads (FMR) would connect master planning and Agricultural Biosystems and Engineering (ABE) services to the region. Agriculture Minister Mohammad Yacob said ABE “is crucial in the BARMM in the implementation of several agricultural legislation in the country.” The application to the BARMM would be much awaited in the implementation of the Philippine Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers Competitiveness Road Map, Republic Act No. 10601 or the Agricultural and Fisheries Mechanization Law, RA 8559 or the Philippine Agricultural Engineering Act of 1998, and
RA 10915 or An Act Strengthening, Modernizing and Aligning the Practice of Agricultural Engineering in the Country into the Internationally Recognized Practice of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, and for other Purposes. PSABE is an accredited integrated engineering professional organization for agricultural and biosystems engineers in the country. The summit carried the theme “Uplifting Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering Profession in the Bangsamoro Region,” which aimed to provide the local agricultural and biosystem engineers with comprehensive up-to-date information and develop a shared understanding of the agricultural and biosystem engineering profession in the Bangsamoro region.
Noble task
YACOB said “the strong partnership of PSABE-BARMM with the academe, public and private sectors is highly imperative to carry this humongous yet noble task.” He said PSABE’s current special focus could bring a lot of promise and development as local experts try to unravel and understand the application of engineering, science and design “to create solutions for problems concerning land development, irrigation and drainage, including dams, farm roads and bridges.” This would be done in a region that is also regularly visited by flood, destroying farm roads and bridges along the way, and blocking rehabilitation for days and trapping families in the low-lying and inaccessible villages.
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INTERISLAND boat rides are the main water transport connectivity in the TawiTawi capital of Bongao. MANUEL T. CAYON
MPW’s role
ONLY lately, the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) mobilized its heavy equipment and personnel to clear the roads affected by massive flooding and landslides after Severe Tropical Storm Paeng hit the region last month. Several roads and bridges in some parts of the Bangsamoro region had to be closed due to soil erosion and flash floods. According to Public Works Minister Eduard Guerra, their team has to clear debris that blocked some parts of road networks, and declog drainages immediately after the rain and flood subsided to ensure that roads are accessible and that fast delivery of relief goods will not be hampered. Tropical Storm Paeng alone, for instance, wrought this long list of damage compiled by the Department of Public Works and Highways-Bureau of Maintenance (DPWH-BOM) as of October 30: 1. Davao-Cotabato Road, K1710+760, Buluan Bridge I, Barangay Manuangan, Pigcawayan, Cotabato due to flooding; 2. Maguindanao 1st DEO Cotabato-Lanao Road, K1878 + 359, Nituan Bridge, Parang, Maguindanao del Norte due to collapsed bridge approach; 3. Ledepan Bridge, Highway Tamontaka-Jct Tapian Wharf
Road, Brgy. Badak, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte due to collapsed bridge; 4. Tamontaka-Jct Tapian Wharf Road, K1857+000, Brgy. Badak, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte due to soil erosion; 5. Simuay Landasan-Parang Road, Tapayan Bridge, K1869 + 224, Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao del Norte due to destroyed bridge approach; and 6. Maguindanao 2nd DEO Marbel-Allah Valley-Cotabato Road, K1796 + 125, Kabulnan Bridge, Brgy. Labu-Labu, Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Norte due to scoured bridge. The ministry has also deployed a multipurpose amphibious dredger to clear the accumulating water hyacinths along Rio Grande de Mindanao in Cotabato City. “In times of calamities like this, MPW is doing its best to help alleviate the situation. We utilize our people and our equipment para matulungan ang mga nangangailangan nating constituents,” Guerra said.
gineers were finishing a short FMR project: a 0.6-kilometer road that needs concreting and a bridge. The P41.66-million project was being constructed in Lumbayanague, Lanao del Sur, a lakeside town 43 kilometers south of Marawi City. The MPW started constructing the bridge and rehabilitating the road in late October. Lanao del Sur District Engineer Maldamin Decampong said Lumbayanague is a fourth-class municipality “where most of its farmland areas produce corn and rice products.” The farm road connects the inner barangays going to the national highway and provides farmers the opportunity to access transportation and prevent spoilage of their farm products. The project was “to enhance the living condition of the poverty-stricken communities in the region.” “These projects are ways of showing our local government units and communities the goodwill of the BARMM government in implementing moral governance and in relation to the 12-point agenda of the Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, in increasing strate-
gic infrastructure to develop our communities, particularly in the remote areas,” said MPW Deputy Minister Engr. Abdul Maomit Tomawis. Lumbayanague Mayor Jamal Asum thanked the Bangsamoro government “for providing us with these essential and beneficial projects for our constituents, which, I believe, could bring change to the lives of our people.” It’s also the same story for another short road project to connect the farms of the upland village of Labungan in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, the town where a mudslide buried some residents last month. This farm road that stretches only 4.6 kilometers was expected to be finished last month with a budget of P69,492,196.6. MAFAR Minister Yacob said the road would “stimulate the grassroots economy and empower farmers to experience development and better living in the future.” “This project will change your life as a farmer. It will transform Continued on A2
GIDA
IN normal times, a simple and short farm road project is an investment into the future and a road to hope for residents in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA). Last month, the BARMM en-
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Source: BSP (November 18, 2022)