The completion of a three-kilometer farm-to-market road in Barangay Pias, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija now affords farmers and residents in the community and nearby villages more convenience.

Agatou Victoria, a farmer-resident of Barangay Pias for 65 years, said travel time when going out of their village was greatly reduced after the road was concreted, making it easier to bring their harvested crops to markets or directly to buyers.

Victoria shared the struggles the community faced before the road was paved.

“Noong una kasi ubod ng hirap talaga dito. Lalo’t kapag tag-ulan, talagang nagpuputik at nababalaho [ang mga sasakyan]. Noong hindi ito ginagawa, dito sa pwesto natin hindi ka makakamaneobra dito. Putik ito. Isa pa napakalaking epekto sa pagkuha ng mga gulay dito ng mga sasakyan (Before, it was really difficult here. During rainy season, it was really muddy and the vehicles got stuck in the mud. When it was not done yet, you could not maneuver. It was muddied. Getting vegetables here by vehicles was greatly affected),” he said in a social media post of the Department of Public Works and Highways-Central Luzon (DPWH-3) on Thursday.

Another local farmer, Roberto Bago, who has been living in the area for 17 years, thanked the DPWH for concreting the farm-to-market road.

Elpidio Y. Trinidad, head of the DPWH-Nueva Ecija Second District Engineering Office, said the newly-completed PHP11.7 million farm-to-market road is part of the convergence program of the DPWH and the Department of Agriculture (DA) funded under the General Appropriations Act of 2021.

Last year, three farm-to-market roads were also completed in Nueva Ecija under the DPWH-DA convergence program. (PNA)