ARAKAN, North Cotabato, Philippines – The recent inauguration of the concrete highway from Kabalantian through Magpet, funded by the Kalahi-CIDSS (Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services) is expected to spur development in the area.

Municipal Mayor Gerardo Tuble said the completion of the 220-meter Poblacion to Lamaticun concrete road will boost sustainable growth for the village of Kabalantian.

Tuble said the reconstruction of the P1.458-million rural road project which links the outskirt villages and the town’s economic centers is the key to this town’s economic recovery.

It was learned that the local government here shelled out some P250,000 as its counterpart for the project.

The concreting of Kabalantian’s major route is expected to reduce travel time from three hours to approximately 30 minutes and lower the transport fare from P150 to about half.

“A little more than a year ago, this road was a broken strip – rocky and pockmarked by neglect, often draining income of farmers to transport cost. Those days are gone,” village chieftain Charlie Secugal said.

“This event is our way of expressing our deepest gratitude that together we have built a solid foundation to advance economic opportunities for subsistence farming families, and other rural poor, as well as provide indirect benefits from improved access to health, education and other social services,” Gemma Rivera, Kalahi-CIDSS project manager said.

The Kalahi-CIDSS support to this town in the last six years has totaled more than P38 million, where P6 million of which was spent for the rural highway segment here.

For this year alone, the Kalahi-CIDSS spent P14 million for at least 13 sub-projects identified by villagers as priority needs.

This improvement has increased economic opportunities for local residents living in proximity to the road, and is expected to make safe passage within this heavily travelled corridor.

The Kalahi-CIDSS, the government’s flagship program in reducing poverty and funded by the World Bank (WB), began building roads, bridges, schools, water systems, post-harvest facilities, and health clinics in 2003 to demonstrate empowerment, immediate progress, and improved local governance to Filipinos.