Nueva Ecija to get P258M in anti-poverty fund

MANILA, Philippines - Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas on Friday said the government has allocated a total of P258 million for various anti-poverty projects in Nueva Ecija this year.

Roxas said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is now stepping up the process for the release of the fund for Nueva Ecija, which is still recovering from devastating typhoons that hit Central Luzon over the past few years.

"Umaasa kami sa DILG na magagamit ng mga lokal na pamahalaan sa Nueva Ecija ang pondo para tuluyang makabangon mula sa sunud-sunod na bagyo na tumama sa Gitnang Luzon," Roxas said.

Nueva Ecija is one of the country’s top rice-producing provinces in the country.

The Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija, is home to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture. It is also host to one of the research centers of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, as well as the Philippine Carabao Center.

In October last year, Nueva Ecija, along with the Tarlac, was declared under a state of calamity during the onslaught of Typhoon Santi.

The estimated damage to infrastructure and agriculture caused by the typhoon was placed at P13 billion, with Nueva Ecija being identified as the hardest hit.

"Sa kabila ng pagiging matatag ng Nueva Ecija para agad na makabangon mula sa pagkakalugmok matapos ang bagyong Santi, hindi maitatanggi na kailangang kailangan nito ang tulong para agad na makabawi ang taong bayan mula sa trahedya," Roxas said.

He said Nueva Ecija’s 17 local government units will receive a total of P247,531,478.50 for various projects made possible through the Grassroots Participatory Budget Process (GPBP) and six LGUs P10 million under the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) program.

Under the GPBP, the government has allocated P15 million for Aliaga; P14,840,187.50 for Bongabon; P13,032,500 for Carranglan; P15 million for Cuyapo; P14,407,500 for Gabaldon; P15 million for Gen. Natividad; P19 million for Guimba; P15 million for Laur; P14,250,000 for Licab; P15 million for Llanera; P15 million for Lupao; P13,362,041 for Pantabangan; P13,870,000 for Quezon; P14.4 million for Science City of Munoz; P12.75 million for Sto. Domingo; P14.40 million for Talugtug; and P13,179,250 for Zaragoza.

On the other hand, the recipients of PCF are San Jose City and Palayan City which will receive P3 million each; Gen Natividad, Talugtug, Bongabon, and Lupao which will each get P1 million.

The GPBP is a new initiative in which project identification and monitoring of implementation are implemented together by LGUs in partnership with nongovernment organizations and people’s organizations.

For the year 2014, the national government has allocated a total of P20.03 billion under GPBP to fund 19,553 poverty-alleviation projects that were identified by 1,226 LGUs across the country in partnership with civil society organizations.

The PCF is an incentive fund given to LGUs in recognition of the local officials’ performance that promote good local governance.