The newly constructed development projects under the Barangay Development Program (BDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) in two upland villages of Maragusan, Davao de Oro, has provided residents more opportunities for growth, an official said Monday.

In a statement, Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy said the PHP20 million worth of projects allotted each for Barangays Bagong Silang and Coronobe have opened new prospects to the villages that were once influenced by communist rebels.

The projects include the concreting of farm-to-market roads, solar street lights, and the construction of a three-classroom school building.

In 2021, the province received PHP1.3 billion from NTF-ELCAC intended for the BDP, of which PHP20 million was earmarked for each of the 65 barangays 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 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.

In 2021, the BDP targeted to rehabilitate and develop 822 geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas formerly influenced by the CPP-NPA-NDF in many parts of the country.

This year, 1,406 barangays have been identified to benefit from the program.

Meanwhile, Mayor Maricel Colina-Vendiola thanked the government for bringing the projects to the upland barangays saying ‘it drastically changed the lives of the people in the area.’

“The residents could now safely travel at night because of the solar streetlights and have better access roads in transporting their farm produce to the town proper,” she said.

Vendiola added that the school building in Barangay Coronobe is expected to benefit hundreds of students once face-to-face classes resume. (PNA)