THE Department of Agriculture is set to allocate an additional P5 billion to fund infrastructure projects proposed under the agency's anti-poverty program, the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).
Arnel de Mesa, PRDP national deputy director, said in a press briefing Wednesday at the Royal Mandaya Hotel that with a budget shortfall of some P11 billion for PRDP projects, they have decided to review all project proposals that are to be delivered this year.
"At present, ee have an ongoing national review of the projects on infrastructure and we are targeting to deliver additional P5 billion more, which is up for approval by Congress and President Aquino by the end of this month. The additional budget will be intended for projects that are to be implemented this year," de Mesa said, adding that starting July, they are up for processing the budget for 2016.
He also said that for the proposed 415 infrastructure projects, PRDP allocated P18 billion but the estimated cost of all the approved infrastructure projects under PRDP is pegged at P29.3 billion.
"Overall cost for the proposed 415 infrastructure projects is P29.3 billion but we only have allocated P18 billion for the infrastructure projects so we need an additional P11 billion for it," he added.
PRDP's infrastructure portfolio in Mindanao has 161 subprojects worth of P8.7 billion, with farm-to-market roads eating the bulk of the budget.
Meanwhile, with PRDP's increase on infrastructure project proposals in Mindanao, the program's national project coordination office earlier trained provincial engineers on Infrastructure Quality Monitoring and Durability System in the city.
"The IQMDS would aid PRDP in ensuring that infrastructure projects are implemented with top-notch quality in mind and that it serves the needs of the rural population," de Mesa said. (ASP)