NEDA-ICC bats for extension of Mindanao’s rural program

 DAVAO CITY,  May 14 -- The government’s technical body has approved the two year extension of second phased Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP2).

The National Economic and Development Authority – Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) Technical Board in its recent meeting in Manila has approved the endorsed to the Cabinet Committee the two-year extension of MRDP2.

The NEDA-ICC is one of the NEDA Board’s interagency committees that evaluates the fiscal, monetary and balance-of-payments implications of major national projects. The approval of the technical board paves the way for the project extension to be presented to the Cabinet Committee for final scrunity before the eventual deliberation by the NEDA Board chaired by President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Meanwhile, MRDP2 is a five-year poverty alleviation program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) through a loan portfolio from the World Bank. The national government and local government units (LGUs) also provides equity share. Launched in 2007, the program will supposedly end by December this year. with two-year extension in the offing, it is now expected to be completed of P4.8 billion.

“The program’s good performance and substantial lists of pipeline projects are among the factors in getting the nod of the technical board,” De Mesa said adding:

“The World Bank during its previous mission has satisfactorily rated the program noting its sufficient improvement as of midterm. This shows that fully committed projects can be completed within two years,” he said.

These projects include rural infrastructure such as irrigation, farm-to-market roads, and potable water supply. It also provides livelihood assistance to small farmers including natural resource management interventions to sustain food production in island region.

The two-year extension De Mesa said also presents challenges that must be overcome particularly in meeting the 60 percent disbursement target by yearend. “Right now we are at 35 percent, so we have to address implementation bottlenecks to comply with agreed timelines and deliverables,” he said.

MRDP program director Lealyn Ramos for her part said the two-year program extension will be a boost to the Aquino administration’s goal of promoting inclusive economic growth as MRDP projects are focused on improving incomes of poor communities in Mindanao.

“The program with the co-financing support from the office of DA Secretary Alcala enabled Mindanao LGUs to massively engaged in infrastructure projects. At present, we are facing huge demand from our LGU partners prompting Secretary Alcala to request not only for an extension but also for additional financing,” Ramos said.

“While we remain optimistic that positive developments are taking place, we also urge our stakeholders to sustain the momentum we have gained. We bank on our partners from LGUs and oversight agencies to help us fast track implementation so that we can eventually meet our targets and eventually negotiate for the third phase of MRDP” she said.