Davao Oro town 2 remote villages receive BDP projects

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 11, 2022): Davao Oro town 2 remote villages receive BDP projects (By Che Palicte)

BDP PROJECT. Barangay Magangit in Maco town, Davao de Oro receives a newly constructed health center from the government's Barangay Development Program (BDP) under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, on Feb. 8, 2022. 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. (Photo courtesy of Davao de Oro PIO)

Two remote barangays in Maco, Davao de Oro received new health centers worth PHP5.6 million from the government’s Barangay Development Program (BDP) this week, the provincial government said Friday.

Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy said barangays Magangit and Sangab in Maco town acquired the health centers on February 8 and 9, respectively, with the hope of providing residents with their health care needs.

Uy said the villages were former strongholds of armed rebels, but with the help of the “whole-of-nation approach” or the convergence of national and local government agencies and the security sector, they are insurgency-free.

In 2021, the province received an allocation of PHP1.3 billion from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) intended for the BDP, of which PHP20 million has been 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 established influenced by the CPP-NPA-NDF in many parts of the country. This year, 1,406 barangays have been identified to benefit from the BDP.

“The provincial government puts emphasis on the importance of the establishment of health care facilities, especially in far-flung areas, to easily access basic health services for all the constituents of the barangay,” Uy said.

Barangay Magangit chief Veneranda Benaning expressed appreciation to the government for finally seeing their village with a new health center through the BDP.

“We thank the government for this big project, especially since we dreamed of having a health center here in our barangay,” she said. “Through the NTF-ELCAC, they made our dream come true.”

Magangit also received a daycare center worth PHP1.5 million that was funded through the province’s 20 percent development fund.

Barangay Sangab chief Delbert Canedo likewise expressed gratitude for the newly constructed health center in their area where residents could benefit from efficient and quality health services from the government.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1167592