Regional director Eduardo Lecciones Jr. of the Department of Agriculture in Region 7 said the Integrated Coastal Resource Management Project launched recently will work well in Siquijor province, being a national awardee for good governance in the country.

Siquijor is one of the six provinces in the country to pilot the US$62-million integrated coastal resources management project that will start this year.

It was launched at the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement held last week at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall, Capitol Building in Siquijor.

The project has a funding of $33.80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank, $ 9 million from the Global Environment Facility, and $19.52 million as counterpart fund from the Government of the Philippines, local government units and the communities totaling some $ 62.32 million, Technical Director of the Protected Areas Wildlife Coastal Zone Management Services, Leonardo Sibbaluca, of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Office, said.

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Present at the launching were Gov. Orlando Fua Jr. and the municipal mayors of the six towns in Siquijor, and regional director Andres Bojos of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-Region 7.

To be implemented within the period 2007-2013, the project involves the provinces of Cagayan in Region 2, Zambales - Region 3, Masbate - Region 5, Cebu and Siquijor - Region 7 and Davao Oriental in Region 11.

Meanwhile, Lecciones also pushed for the planting of jatropha, locally known as “tuba-tuba” in Siquijor.

He said that jatropha farming, which can be part of the enterprise development and income biodiversification component of the ICRMP, can have a potential market for the marginal fisherfolk of Siquijor.

Cultivating at least 5,000 hectares of jatropha can solve the energy problem of the province, he added.*MA/JG

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