THE Davao City Government is studying the Balik Probinsya Program (BPP) implemented by Quezon City as part of its urban development plan to address the growing population and encourage residents living in danger zones to return to their provinces.
Davao City Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag said in a press forum that they found out that Quezon City, the biggest city in Metro Manila with a large population, is implementing BPP, which seeks to encourage residents to visit and invest in their ancestral roots in the province to decongest the city.
"Quezon City, ang dami nilang informal settlers actually in Metro Manila sila ang pinakamarami and they were able to reduce the informal settlers through their program, Balik Probinsya Program," Al-ag said.
"We will study this and I think it is applicable to our city with this Balik Probinsya Program ng Quezon City because usually, if you will look at the census tagging, majority of the people who are in the riverbanks and informal settlers, are not from Davao City," he added.
He said should this be replicated, they will prioritize those living in danger zones, adding most of the residents are not originally from Davao City but only exploring opportunities here.
"Ang ginawa nila, yong mga nasa riverbanks and canals, tinrace nila sila kung saan ang roots nila or province and binibigyan nila ng assistance, pinapabalik nila doon. Binibigyan nila ng funding para maka-start sila ng life doon sa kanilang provinces," Al-ag said.
He said this kind of scheme is a very good approach to assist informal settlers to return to their provinces.
"Davao City, ang dami nating informal settlers who came from other provinces here in Mindanao, baka pwede din nating gawin ito na pabalikin
sila until makatayo sila sa kanilang sarili in their own province," he said.
"This is also the thing that we want to see and we want to learn from the local government," he added.
They are also going to study how they dispense the budget and the concept of the project for effective implementation.