Army Engineers Finish Laguna Farm-to-Market Roads

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 31, 2009) – Army engineers have finished the construction of farm-to-market roads in five remote villages in the town of Liliw in the province of Laguna, southeast of Metro Manila, officials said on Monday.

The Army’s 51st Engineering Brigade headed by General Felizardo Simoy recently handed over the five roads worth more than P12 million to Liliw Mayor Cesar Sulibit and the five village chieftains in a ceremony attended by many residents and local government officials.

Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s Civil-Military Operations Group, said the total length of the five road projects is 10.2-kilometers and was funded through the government’s Kalayaan Barangay Program.

He said the recipients of the farm-to-market road projects were the villages Ibabang San Roque, Ilayang San Roque, Silangang Bukal, Kanlurang Bukal and Novaliches.

“The residents, most especially our farmers, will benefit greatly from these farm-to-market roads. Farm produce and other agricultural products can now get to the markets more easily and it will hasten the town’s economy. The five villages are only among the initial 500 pilot areas identified nationwide to benefit from the program,” Lucero said.

He said the Kalayaan Barangay Program is a national government’s peace building initiative intended to alleviate the living condition of the farmers in far-flung villages.

The program, conceptualized in 2005, hopes to bring peace and development in the poorest rural and conflict-affected villages in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)