the palma alliance - LGRC DILG 10

The Kabalikat PALMA Infrastructure Project: Pigcawayan, Alamada, Libungan, Midsayap, & Aleosan Cotabato Province
ABOUT THE PALMA KABALIKAT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT
Addressing a Need, Helping Neighbors: Project History
Like many rural municipalities in the Philippines, the five municipalities of Cotabato Province
of the PALMA alliance shared a common problem. Because of poor roads, several of their
upland and far flung barangays were deprived of basic services and faced limited prospects
for growth. Residents from these barangays found it difficult to commute and transport their
farm produce to the market.
But because of limited resources, individual local government units (LGUs) could ill afford
massive rehabilitation or construction of barangay or farm to market roads.
To address the problem, Mayor Ronaldo B. Pader of Libungan, who is concurrently the Chair
of the PALMA Alliance Board, broached the idea of pooling the equipment of five towns to
fast track their respective infrastructure development with 4 mayors of neighboring towns
who were also attending the Chief Executives Development Management Program (LDMP)
conference. All four mayors readily accepted Pader’s idea. Initial discussions on how to
implement the project were made.
The five mayors subsequently met to formulate the mechanics for project implementation
and to formalize the arrangement in a Memorandum of Agreement. The MOA was signed
on October 31, 2001 signifying the intentions of 5 LGUs to implement the PALMA Kabalikat
project as an alliance.
In February 2002, the first rotation of infra- equipment was made. It covered 20 barangays in
the municipality of Aleosan where approximately 12 kms of barangay road were completed.
Each municipality got its turn to use the equipment until the early part of January 2003. A
total of 70 kilometers of barangay farm to market roads in 27 barangays in the 5 municipalities
were rehabilitated under the first rotation. The project is now on its second round.
Before and After construction shots of the Aleosan Tomado-Malapang Road
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