Completed infrastructure under the Barangay Development Program (BDP) in Davao de Oro’s town of Maragusan has brought significant changes to three of its barangay recipients, the provincial government said Friday.

In a statement, the Davao de Oro government said the Maragusan barangays of Mabugnao, Mapawa, and Bagong Silang are now enjoying the gains of the BDP projects in education, livelihood, healthcare, and development.

The completed projects included two new farm-to-market roads (FMRs) for Barangays Mabugnaw and Mapawa, and a one-story, two-classroom building for Bagong Silang National High School, and upgraded water system supply.

“These projects are enablers of economic, tourism, and agricultural development in BDP-beneficiary barangays,” the provincial government said.

For Maragusan town, touted as the province’s summer capital, the FMRs and other infra-projects from BDP are a big plus for their growing tourism circuits.

“More projects are underway for some other parts of Davao de Oro and these will bring positive changes for the people,” the statement added.

Last year, Davao de Oro received PHP1.3 billion from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) for the BDP projects.

At least PHP20 million was earmarked for each of the 65 barangays in the area that were cleared of communist insurgency.

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 communist armed rebellion 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. (PNA)