Ubay-Mabini FMR gets P10M

THE Ubay-Mabini farm-to-market road (FMR) is set for improvement this year with a P10-million allocation from the Department of Agriculture (DA). In a letter to then Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said DA has allocated P10 million for the construction/rehabilitation of a farm-to-market road project in Bohol.

Aumentado who was in Manila when his office received a copy of the letter expressed elation over the funding, saying the improvement will encourage farmers to produce more as the FMR will provide better access to the market. At the same time, it will entice buyers to purchase vegetables and other products at farm gate prices. “Both ways, the road shall have helped reduce poverty in Bohol ,” said the governor under whose helm the province was plucked out of Club 20 – the 20 poorest provinces in the country. Paras is DA's undersecretary for operations and the national coordinator for the FMR Development Program. He also recommended to Ebdane that the project be implemented by the Provincial Government Unit.

As such, Aumentado directed Engr. Edwin Vallejos, OIC provincial engineer to initiate bidding proceedings. The governor has a bias against DPWH implementing projects because although only its district office directly supervises the implementation, its regional and national offices also deducts supervision fees for the same. Besides, DPWH cost estimates are higher compared to that of the Provincial General Services Office (PGSO), the Provincial Engineer's Office (PEO) or any other office under the provincial government. Aumentado has been pushing for the construction of the Union-Biabas (Ubay)-San Jose-Cabulao-Poblacion (Mabini) FMR. He endorsed the prioritization of this road, with another FMR in Sierra Bullones town estimated to cost P20 million a close second.

To note, from a Club 20 member when he first assumed as governor, Bohol rose to No. 41 according to the 2005 Philippines Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Only last year however, Bohol rose 11 notches higher. The National Statistics Coordinating Board (NSCB) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported that Bohol was already No. 52 out of 80 provinces. He takes pride in the improved rating although he cannot help but feel apprehensive that the members of Team Bohol, which he heads, are gunning for a Top 10 berth in the coming years.

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