8 Cordillera villages now communist-free

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 18. 2021): 8 Cordillera villages now communist-free (By Liza Agoot)

BAGUIO CITY – Eight communist terrorist groups-cleared villages in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) will receive PHP20 million each for their development programs, or a total of PHP160 million allocation from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Trisha Marie Dogup, focal person of the Executive Order (70 program under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG in CAR, on Thursday said the eight were cleared of infestation by the terrorist group New People’s Army (NPA) from 2016 to 2019.

They have already submitted the required documents, including proposals on how the funds will be utilized.

“The fund is under the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) of the NTF-ELCAC,” she said.

Among the proposed projects are farm-to-market roads, school buildings, water and sanitation systems, rural electrification, housing, and medical, burial, transportation, food, cash-for-work, and educational assistance for indigent individuals or households.

Of the eight villages, six are in Abra (Barangays Bayabas, Buanao, Dulao, Duldulao, Ud-udiao in the municipality of Malibcong, and Barangay Naguilian in Salapadan town); Barangay Babalag East in Rizal, Kalinga; and Barangay Tamboan, Besao in Mountain Province.

The assistance to the said villages will not stop with the release of the PHP20 million, Dogup said.

“They are included among priority barangays because they still have programs, projects and activities that should be implemented and not just those covered by the PHP20M financial assistance,” she said.

Dogup said that for 2021, the Regional Task Force ELCAC has identified a total of 79 villages in CAR with programs, projects and activities proposed with national line agencies.

DILG-CAR officer-in charge Araceli San Jose said SBDP is the Duterte administration's flagship program for poverty alleviation and development which aims to address the root causes of insurgency.

“The program is geared towards reducing, if not stopping, communist recruitment by providing holistic development projects that bridge the gap between community needs and accessibility,” she said in a previous interview.

The European Union, through Council Decision 2011/70/CFSP dated January 11, 2011, designated the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA as a terrorist organization.

The CPP-NPA is also listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134018