DAR, COA, DPWH, and local officials inspected the proposed โฑ30โmillion SeronganโPangandao FarmโtoโMarket Road Project in Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte, designed to give agrarian reform beneficiaries wider market reach, lower transport costs, and stronger agricultural productivity. (Image courtesy of DAR)
MANUKAN, Zamboanga del Norte โ The distance between a field and a marketplace can mean the difference between profit and poverty. Agrarian reform beneficiaries in the remote barangays of Serongan and Pangandao in Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte, have long measured that distance not merely in kilometers but in lost income. It may soon change as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) cleared the way for the implementation of the โฑ30-million SeronganโPangandao Farm-to-Market Road Project after it passed final inspection and validation. Local officials believe it could transform the economic conditions of the farmers living in the area.
At first glance, it is simply a road. But in rural communities where muddy pathways become impassable during heavy rains and transportation costs consume a large share of farmers’ earnings, roads can become engines of development.
The project will provide hundreds of agrarian reform beneficiaries with a safer and more reliable route connecting their farms to trading centers. Farmers cultivating coconut, corn, rice, mangoes, bananas, rubber, cacao and various vegetables stand to benefit from faster travel times and lower transportation expenses.
Those savings matter for smallholder farmers. Reducing hauling costs can increase the amount of money families take home from every harvest. Faster delivery also minimizes post-harvest losses, especially for perishable produce, while allowing farmers to negotiate better prices by reaching larger markets beyond their immediate communities.
“Farm-to-market roads are vital in reducing transportation costs, improving the movement of agricultural products, and increasing the productivity and income of our farmers,” DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said in a statement. “This project reflects DAR’s continuing commitment to empowering agrarian reform beneficiaries and advancing rural development.”
The benefits extend beyond economics. Reliable roads often improve access to schools, health services and government assistance. During emergencies, they enable faster response times. They can attract small businesses, stimulate investment and strengthen connections between isolated communities and the broader economy.
Development experts have long argued that infrastructure remains one of the missing links in agrarian reform. Land ownership alone, they note, cannot lift rural families out of poverty if farmers cannot efficiently transport what they produce.
The SeronganโPangandao road project seeks to address that gap. Before receiving final clearance, the project underwent inspection and validation by a team from DAR’s Central Office, joined by representatives from the Commission on Audit, to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.
Local engineers and officials from DAR Zamboanga del Norte, led by Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Daisy Dell Suan Digamon, worked alongside personnel from the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Municipal Government of Manukan during the validation process.
Their participation underscored a level of inter-agency coordination that government officials say is essential to delivering infrastructure projects that are both effective and accountable.
Residents of Serongan and Pangandao, however, view the true measure of success as not being found in inspection reports or completion certificates. It will be seen in trucks reaching markets on time, in reduced transport expenses, in higher earnings after harvest, and in whether children growing up in these farming villages inherit communities with more choices than their parents once had.
A road can be more than concrete and asphalt, particularly in places where development often arrives slowly. It can become a pathway out of isolation โ and, perhaps, toward a more secure future.
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