Albay projects bankrolled through GPB strategy

With the release of the budget, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) can now go full steam ahead with various agrarian projects worth 10 million in the province of Albay, under the Grassroots Participatory Budgeting (GPB) system.

Albay Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Romulo Britanico said the projects involve the construction of the 100-linear-meter spillway in Barangay Aurora-White Deer, Jovellar town; the 1.5-kilometer Marayag-San Isidro farm-to-market road in Libon town; and the 35-linear-meter concrete footbridge in Sitio Lagsingan, Rapu-Rapu.

Britanico said the GPB also calls for the development of a coco-cased processing and farming system in Guinobatan town with the project ben- efiting 10,400 farmers, of which 527 are agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).

Preparatory activities for these projects are now being undertaken by the DAR Albay with the help of the concerned mayors.

Guinobatan Mayor Ann Gemma Ongjoco expressed her gratitude to the DAR for helping them boost the economic lives of Albayanons.

For his part, Mayor Ronald Galecia of Rapu-Rapu said he is looking forward to bigger projects through DAR to sustain the development the government has initiated in their community.

The GPB, previously called Bottoms- Up Planning and Budgeting (BUB), was adopted as a strategy to identify various programs and projects that address the development needs of poorest cities and municipalities in the country.