The City Government of Mati received the award as the Best Local Government Unit implementing the Mindanao Rural Development Program’s Community Fund for Agricultural Development (MRDP-CFAD) yesterday, at the Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City.
No less than President Benigno S. Aquino III handed over the “Parangal sa mga Bosing ng Kanayunan” awards to local government units (LGUs) and peoples organizations (POs) which exude noteworthy performance in implementing Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP) projects.
Mati City Mayor Michelle Rabat personally accepted the award from the President.
Mayor Rabat said that her administration focused on dispersal of goats and cows for their first tranche, and vegetable farming using organic fertilizer and projects using coco by-products for the second tranche of their MRDP-assisted projects.
The awarding ceremony highlights the People’s Organization (POs) Congress which will be held at the Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City, providing a venue for MRDP organized POs and LGUs to be recognized as well as share their experiences, success stories and lessons learned from MRDP implementation.
Other LGUs to receive the award are Silay, Misamis Oriental of Region 10 as the Best Performing LGU implementing the MRDP Rural Infrastructure (RI) Project; Nasipit, Agusan del Norte of Region XIII as Best LGU implementing the MRDP Natural Resources Management (NRM)-Agro Forestry Management; Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat of Region XII as Best LGU implementing the MRDP NRM-Mangrove Rehabilitation and Management; and Roseller T. Lim, Zamboanga Sibugay of Region IX as Best Performing LGU implementing MRDP-NRM Fish Sanctuary Management.
The municipal government of Roseller T. Lim will also be accorded a special citation for its rural infrastructure project implementation while the municipal government of Libungan, North Cotabato will also be receiving a special citation as the LGU to have shown overall sustainable CFAD Management.
The only people›s organization to receive the “Parangal ng Mga Bosing sa Kanayunan” is Doyos Eastern Coast Fishermen Consumers Cooperative of Carrascal, Surigao del Sur in Region XIII. It is being cited as the Best Performing PO implementing MRDP CFAD.
Other than the awarding ceremony, the POs and LGUs will be sharing best experiences and practices for others to learn from, and to guide them in undertaking projects rolled out under the MRDP.
A program under the Department of Agriculture (DA), MRDP is a poverty alleviation initiative in Mindanao under the Adaptable Program Loan (APL) facility of the World Bank, covering 225 towns in the 26 provinces of Mindanao.
Aside from RI, CFAD, NRM, Investment for Governance Reform (IGR) is one of the four major components of MRDP which rolls out a total combined funding of US$123.652 million from World Bank and from GOP-LGU counterparts.
MRDP released information says that more than 3,500 POs have been organized through CFAD and NRM components, and that 124,866 households have benefited from CFAD alone. (with PIA XI/Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)
