The Local Government Unit of Carmen in Cotabato Province recently turned-over five of its completed priority projects to its recipient barangays in a ceremonial turn-over held at the Municipal Hall last Monday, December 21.

Carmen town mayor Moises Arendain and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) XII Regional Director Josephine Cabrido-Leysa, CESO III led the ceremonial turn-over of the said projects, which were funded by the DILG in 2018 and 2019 through its Assistance to Municipalities (AM) and Sagana at Ligtas na tubig para sa lahat (SALINTUBIG) programs.

DILG XII’s Project Development Management Unit (PDMU) said, four of the turned-over projects were potable water supply systems each located in barangays Kimadzil, Tupig, General Luna, and Ranzo; and one local access road located in Barangay Tacupan.

An estimate of 1,782 residents benefited from the said projects worth Php 14,328,612, PDMU said. From 2012 to 2020, Carmen received Php 70,366,612 financial assistance under various Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) programs including Bottom-up Budgeting, Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA), Salintubig, and ADM/AM.

Director Leysa lauded the town for its successful implementation of the projects and encouraged barangay officials to take care of the projects to ensure its sustainability.

Furthermore, she also recognized the LGU’s “excellent performance” in implementing SALINTUBIG projects and complying with the SubayBayan portal, the Department’s online monitoring platform.

The town was one of the first LGUs in the Region to successfully complete its 2019 SALINTUBIG projects and achieved a 100% compliance rate in the online monitoring platform, based on the PDMU’s database as of December 1, 2020.

Prior to this activity, 22 other DILG-funded projects from the Municipalities of President Roxas and Magpet in Cotabato province and Maitum in Sarangani province were turned-over to their respective recipient barangays, raising the total number of turned-over projects to 27 since November this year all worth Php 110,094,341.50.