By Darryl John Esguerra
MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday turned over various agricultural support projects to farmers in Misamis Oriental province, reinforcing the administration’s agenda to modernize agriculture through strategic investments in infrastructure, technology, and industry development.
During the turnover and launch ceremony held in Balingasag town, Marcos led the distribution of major interventions from the Department of Agriculture – Northern Mindanao (DA-Regional Field Office 10), DA-PHilMech, and private sector partners under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) and the SUnRISE Integrated Coconut Processing Facility (SUnRISE-ICPF) program.
Among the largest projects unveiled was the Mapulog-Tuboran Farm-to-Market Road in Naawan town worth PHP90.8 million.
“Sa buong rehiyon, nakapagtayo na tayo ng halos 70 kilometrong farm-to-market roads at mga tulay na tinatayang nasa 105 linyang metro (Across the region, we have built nearly 70 km. of farm-to-market roads and bridges, totaling approximately 105 meter lines),” Marcos said in his speech.
The farm-to-market road projects have benefited nearly 16,000 Filipino families in the area, he added.
Additional support included PHP32.2 million worth of machinery, equipment, facilities, and agricultural inputs. Combined with PHP78.1 million in rice farming technologies under RCEF, total government-backed assistance reached over PHP200 million.
Key to the event was the launch of the PHP350-million SUnRISE Integrated Coconut Processing Facility, a flagship public-private partnership with the First Community Cooperative (FICCO), which will anchor the transformation of the coconut industry in the region.
Seated on FICCO property, the facility will produce six high-value coconut products—including cocopallets, activated carbon, virgin coconut oil, coco flour, skim milk, and coco water—targeting export markets and aiming to increase the farm gate price of coconuts from PHP8 to PHP9 to PHP16 to PHP18 per nut.
The project is part of the SUnRISE initiative—short for Solving Unemployment through Rural Industrialization, Sustainable and Enterprise development—which is designed to elevate rural incomes and contribute to the national goal of reducing poverty to single digits by 2028. (PNA)
