The City of Himamaylan in Negros Occidental has received a notice from the Bureau of the Treasury in Western Visayas (BTr-6) on the release of the PHP20-million fund for the implementation of projects under the Barangay Development Program (BDP).

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Mayor Raymund Tongson said the fund is a “big blessing” for the city and the remote barangay of Carabalan.

“(A total of) PHP20 million worth of projects for the far-flung areas in Barangay Carabalan has been confirmed and will be received by our local government unit,” he added.

Barangay Carabalan is the lone village in the southern Negros city included in the list of 74 insurgency-cleared barangays in Western Visayas that will receive the said amount under the BDP, a hallmark program of National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities.

Tongson posted a copy of the notice dated April 19, 2021 sent by BTr-6 OIC-regional director Bernadette Ang, informing him the amount of PHP20 million will be credited to the Land Bank of the Philippines account of the city government.

“To cover the funding requirements for the implementation of priority projects of the recipient LGU per attached schedule against the fiscal year 2021 Local Government Support Fund of the NTF-ELCAC,” the notice stated.

Ang also said that “(a)ctual utilization/disbursements out of the cash allocation shall be subjected to the usual government procurement, budgeting, accounting, and auditing rules and regulations”.

Each barangay that will receive PHP20 million will be provided a one-kilometer farm-to-market road worth PHP12 million; classrooms, PHP3 million; water and sanitation systems, PHP2 million; health station, PHP1.5 million; and livelihood projects, PHP1.5 million.

Tongson said he has also requested the approval of the same project funds for two other villages in the city, including Mahalang and Buenavista. (PNA)