By Judy Flores Partlow
DUMAGUETE CITY – The provincial government of Negros Oriental is prioritizing road infrastructure projects to improve access to Tamlang Valley and develop it into a major food production hub in the Negros Island Region, an official said Monday.
Ingo Mercado, chief of the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO), said road development is among the long-term priorities under the Tamlang Valley initiative, a flagship program of Governor Manuel Sagarbarria.
Speaking at the PSA-NIR Regional Data Dissemination Forum in Dumaguete City, Mercado discussed the provincial government’s poverty reduction initiatives following the reported decline in the region’s poverty incidence to 14.3 percent in 2025 from 22.6 percent in 2023.
Negros Oriental’s poverty incidence among families also dropped to 15.8 percent in 2025 from 22.1 percent in 2023 and 16.4 percent in 2021.
Mercado said the governor has been pushing for various initiatives, particularly in agriculture, to sustain development in the province.
“He envisions this to be the food basket of the province and at the same time of the region,” Mercado said, referring to Tamlang Valley.
Aside from distributing fertilizers and seeds and providing farm machinery, including tractors, Mercado emphasized that road infrastructure is crucial to the area’s long-term development.
He cited completed and ongoing projects that have improved access to the valley, which was once a no man’s land during the height of the communist insurgency in Negros Oriental in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Among the completed projects is the road crossing at Siaton River, now equipped with a box culvert. The provincial government is also funding road construction along sections of the Tamlang road network.
Tamlang Valley has four access points: Sitio Avocado in Sta. Catalina, Mantikil in Siaton, Dobdob in Valencia and Magsusunog in Pamplona.
Mercado said a multi-million-peso road network project proposed under the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) remains on hold as the provincial government complies with documentary and other requirements.
While awaiting approval, the province is proceeding with road construction in sections not included in the original PRDP proposal.
Another proposed project is the Mantikil, Siaton-Tamlang-Valencia road connection, which Mercado said will be discussed during the upcoming budget review for national government agencies.
Other planned infrastructure investments include an ongoing community hospital in Tamlang Valley and a proposed dam under the National Irrigation Administration to support agricultural development. (PNA)
Negros Oriental Planning and Development Officer Ingo Mercado (PNA photo by Mary Judaline Flores Partlow
