The EFFECT of Change
“Thank you” this is the words uttered by 76-year-old Faustino Celades who could not believe that their longtime dream for a better road system will come true. He is very happy that the San Agustin Canmaya Diot farm-to-market road (fmr) has finally completed.
In an interview, he expressed that he was really clueless when the work began prompting him to ask the ground personnel of what is happening.
“Astang dugaya namong ampo na ma sementado ang kanhi barangay road. Perting maota pa aning kalsadaha”.
(We have long prayed for this once barangay road to be concreted. This road was really ugly!” Celades remarked.
Celades, a retired teacher and trader residing along the 5.9-kilometer fmr road used to fall off from his motorcycle when transporting produce due to poor road condition.
Today, the poor road network has turned into major opportunities for him to conveniently transport produce directly from his farm to the markets of Tubigon and Tagbilaran.
Kalami najud sa dalan. Very good!”
(The road now is really great! Very good!) he added.
In addition, the decrease in cost of fuel even encouraged him to frequently visit his coconut plantation from the adjacent barangays. The once bumpy road has consume a lot of his gasoline.
Every three (3) weeks, Celades would collect around 80-90 sacks of copra which he currently sells at P 35 per kilo from P 15 per kilo in the past.
“Pagkahayayay na lamang jud”. (“It’s remarkably convenient”, he said.)
The San Agustin Canmaya Diot farm-to-market road is the first completed fmr project implemented under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) for Region VII.
Based on the Random Sampling or household survey and spot interviews initiated by the InfoACE and Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (M & E) last October 17-20, 2016 residents from the four barangays connected by the fmr has initially reaped the numerous benefits of the existence of the fully concreted road.
Result showed a 75% reduction of travel time, 45% reduction in hauling costs, and 2% in transport loss. Increase in production and traffic count is also evident.
In barangays Canmaya and Kagawasan, from a minimum travel time of 20-30 minutes, it has reduced to 10-15 minutes.
More so, other socio-economic benefits are beginning to increase as some farmers work as habal-habal drivers during the weekends; children are now encouraged to attend school and would no longer walk barefoot on muddy pathways, while other residents are starting to relocate closer to the road. Bexmae P. Jumao-as, PDA for InfoACE RPCO 7