Govt continues aid to villages despite NPA attacks

From the Manila Times (Jul 4, 2023): Govt continues aid to villages despite NPA attacks (By Alexandra J. Furio)

THE government will continue its support for villages despite disruptions by the New People's Army (NPA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Director Rene Valera said.

The Support to the Barangay Development Program (SBDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict or NTF-Elcac is ongoing, he said.

In the hour-long program "TAGGED Reloaded: Debunking Lies By Telling the Truth," Valera discussed the SBDP program updates from 2021, 2022, and 2023 as well as the challenges they encountered with the NPA.

Despite these encounters, NTF-Elcac said that all SBDP projects will proceed.

SBDPs for 2022 are already 41 percent or 690 out of 1719 completed for 1496 villages. These are 397 farm-to-market, 80 water sanitation, 50 school buildings, 61 health stations, and 102 rural electrification projects.

Valera said that in 2021, 82.07 percent, or 1,904 out of 2,320 projects for SBDP had been completed that benefited 822 villages.

These projects include 763 farm-to-market roads, 415 water sanitation, 132 health stations, 116 school buildings, 163 rural electrification, and 53 other infrastructures.

He stressed that for every region, it is very noticeable that Regions 5 and 6 have slow movement. Valera emphasized the usual locations of encounters are within these regions.

Valera added that they are monitoring these projects. "When it comes to monitoring and evaluation of DILG, we conducted a regional dialogue with chief local executives. The local chief executives committed to fast track, to complete the implementation of these projects," Valera said.

The DILG director also cited that there is already an approved P6.1 billion budget for 2023 and there are reasons why they cannot start the SBDP for this year yet. Valera stressed that Covid-19 and 2022 elections affected the process of the Department of Budget and Management or DBM.

"These projects aren't overnight. It has a process," NTF-Elcac Media Bureau chief Joel Egco said, citing that they are aiming for the approval of P10 million for each barangay in 864 target villages for 2024.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/07/04/regions/govt-continues-aid-to-villages-despite-npa-attacks/1898993