NCotabato to avail of P200M for road projects

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines  – The provincial board has authorized Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza to avail of a P200-million bank loan to purchase equipment needed in building more roads to link farming enclaves in the province.

Board Member Noel Baynosa, who supported the governor’s bid for an imprimatur from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), said Mendoza had been permitted to apply for a loan at the Land Bank of the Philippines.

The resolution granting the governor permission to avail of the loan was enacted early this week, after a series of deliberations by provincial board members.

The office of Mendoza, now in her second term as North Cotabato governor, intends to procure three motor graders worth P53 million; two wheel loaders worth P40 million; a compactor worth  P51 million,  a backhoe worth P25 million; six dump trucks worth about  P49 milllion; a mechanized self-loading utility truck worth P17 million, and a portable industrial compressor worth P12 million.

The P200 million loan from the LBP should be paid by the provincial government within a period of seven years, with a 12 percent annual interest.

Baynosa said the provincial board approved the availment of loan owing to the governor’s efficient implementation of infrastructure projects in the province.

Baynosa said the provincial government’s acquisition of the P200-million worth of road-building equipment will benefit all of the 17 towns in the province and its capital, Kidapawan City, which has more than 40 barangays.