DAVAO CITY – Some four infrastructure projects initiated in two sub-villages formerly controlled by communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Mabini, Davao de Oro have been completed under the government’s Barangay Development Project (BDP).
In a statement Monday, Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy said Sitios Manasa and Mascareg are recipients of BDP projects after they were declared insurgency-free areas by the provincial government and the military.
Sitio Manasa received a barangay health center, riprap for flood control, and a steel bridge, while Sitio Mascareg got itself an electrification project, the governor said.
“The residents of Sitio Manasa will no longer be worried about their safety in times of flash floods and health emergencies due to the newly installed riprap for flood control,” he said.
He said crossing the river during flash floods would not be a problem anymore as the new steel bridge is now serving the area.
For Sitio Mascareg, the residents benefited from 60 solar streetlights to make their night travels easier and safer.
Last year, Davao de Oro received PHP1.3 billion from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) for BDP projects. At least PHP20 million was earmarked for each of the 65 barangays in the area that were cleared of communist insurgency.
Sitio Manasa chief Medardo Baclaan has acknowledged the government for the projects, noting that despite their place being far and within the valleys, the government never fails to address their needs.
“This is good news for us, our livelihood in the hinterlands will no longer be at risk,” he said.
A hallmark program of the NTF-ELCAC with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities, the BDP forms part of the government’s whole-of-nation approach in fighting the rebellion waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army–National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) in the countryside.
The program aims to eradicate the root causes of the insurgency, poverty, disease, lack of education and opportunities, and social injustice in remote communities across the country identified to have been influenced by the communist ideology.
Uy said under the program of President Rodrigo Duterte’s NTF ELCAC, the 65 former insurgency-hit areas in the province have obtained peace and “are now enjoying the bright future ahead of them.” (PNA)
BDP projects in DavOr village spur dev’t in hinterlands
By Che Palicte
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