REGIONAL UPDATE. National Security Council Undersecretary Vicente Agdamag gives updates on the programs and projects on national security during the Kapihan ed Ilocos virtual forum on Wednesday (Sept. 29, 2021). The virtual forum was hosted by the Philippine Information Agency-Ilocos Region. (Screenshot from PIA-Ilocos Region's livestream)
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – A total of 33 barangays in the Ilocos Region are initially part of the 1,406 barangays in the country that would benefit from the programs and projects under the Barangay Development Program (BDP) next year.
In a virtual forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency-Ilocos Region Wednesday, National Security Council Undersecretary Vicente Agdamag said 27 barangays are from Ilocos Sur, and two barangays each from Ilocos Norte, La Union, and Pangasinan.
“Last year, these barangays were not included in the beneficiaries but they were already validated from 2016 to 2018,” he said.
The villages under BDP were cleared of communist terrorists’ threat by the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army–National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
“It took long validation by the police, army, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government,” Agdamag said.
The recipient barangays will each receive PHP20 million worth of socioeconomic development projects towards the provision of farm-to-market roads, health centers, electrification, water and sanitation facilities, schools, and livelihood projects, he added.
“It (BDP) has (made) a huge contribution to the peace and development effort. After they were given (projects), almost significantly, what was left of the influence of CPP-NPA was gone,” Agdamag said.
The BDP is the flagship project of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which is the whole-of-nation approach in defeating the local communist terrorist group and obtaining sustainable and inclusive peace throughout the Philippines.
In December 2018, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte issued Executive Order 70 synchronizing the government's instrumentalities of power with the capabilities of private sector stakeholders to end 50 years of deceit, lies, and atrocities committed by communist terrorists against the Filipino people.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council. (PNA)
