PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is expected to arrive in Eastern Visayas on Thursday, March 18, 2021, to meet with local officials and personally check the implementation of the Barangay Development Plan (BDP), the nationwide banner program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).
“The President will also be visiting Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) to emphasize the government's longstanding commitment to bringing justice to the grieving families of those who perished at the hands of the NPA (New People’s Army) during the Inopacan Massacre and internal purgings in Leyte,” said National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon.
"As the NTF-Elcac has shifted its main effort in 2019 from Mindanao to the Visayas and in Luzon, an additional 1,376 barangays nationwide, including 200 barangays in Region 8, were cleared from 2019 to 2020. These barangays will be covered by the BDP implementation in year 2022," Esperon added.
In a statement, Esperon said “Region 8 has historically been one of the poorest regions in the Philippines” due to the prevailing insurgency problems.
“One of the major contributory factors to this is the destructive and counterproductive presence of the NPA,” he said.
“As the BDP envisions insurgency-free communities through the influx of socio-economic development programs and projects, Region 8 stands to benefit greatly from this initiative,” Esperon added.
The said barangays will receive a package of socio-economic development programs.
“Projects earmarked for each barangay are P12 million for farm-to-market roads; P3 million for school buildings; P2 million for water and sanitation systems; PP1.5 million for electrification; and P1.5 million for health stations,” Esperon said.
On March 5, 2021, Duterte also visited Cagayan de Oro in Region 10 for a similar activity. (SunStar Philippines)