Six projects worth P 24-million are expected to bring government services closer to communities, providing safer access to health and education, as well as transportation and delivery of farm produce to market centers, while also boosting economic development in the barangays.
“The implementation of the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) is a game changer in our fight for justice, long lasting peace and inclusive and sustainable development in the country,” said Araceli San Jose, Regional Director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Cordillera during the turn-over ceremony of the projects.
She underscored that the people living in SBDP barangays and “geographical isolated and disadvantaged areas” (GIDAS), are gradually realizing the true meaning of change and government care, which they have never realized before attributable to the protracted ideologies propagated by the communist terrorists.
“Dahil sa SBDP at mga naisakatuparang serbisyo caravan ng pamahalaan, naipadarama natin sa mga apektadong barangay ang malasakit ng pamahalaan para sa pangmatagalang kapayapaan, kaayusan, at kaligtasan at nailalapit ang mga serbisyo ng pamahalaan sa kanila. Batid po natin ang tunay na kahulugan ng pagbabago. Mahalaga din sa atin na patuloy maipadama ang pagkalinga ng pamahalaan sa kanila. (Because of the SBDP and serbisyo caravans implemented by the government, we were able to let the affected barangays feel how the government cares for them to have long lasting peace and order and safety and to bring the services of the government closer to them. We understand the true meaning of change. It is also important for us to continue to make them feel how the government cares for them), she explained.
Noting that, “when roads are insufficient, we, the government must step up to help upgrade, repair, and rehabilitate these vital links that serve as the primary drivers of tourism and local economic growth required to support economic and social development particularly in neglected and GIDA barangays,” she added.
The DILG Cordillera together with the municipal government of Asipulo, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) , Philippine National Police (PNP), barangay officials, volunteers, and community members inaugurated farm-to-market roads worth PHP 24 million in barangays Binablayan, Danggo, Gumhang, Luhong, Tokucan in Tinoc and baragay Pula in Asipulo.
In a statement, the municipal government of Tinoc said barangays Danggo, Tokucan, Gumhang, Luzong and Binablayan can now reap the benefits of the five SBDP projects amounting to PhP4-million each in terms of livelihood and development.
These infrastructure projects will connect more areas within the province as the government improves constituents’ living conditions, including easier access to education, health, and other government services.
“Billy”, a farmer and resident of Barangay Danggo, Tinoc, said that after many years of having difficulty transporting his farm produce to market centers, he can now enjoy easy transportation.
“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa gobyerno dahil hindi na po kami matatakot na magdala ng mga produkto namin sa palengke. Hindi na kami mahihirapang isakay sa motor ang aming mga ani dahil gumanda at umayos na ang daanan. Paniguradong hindi na masisira yung mga tanim na gulay kapag dadalhin namin sa ibang lugar, (I thank the government because we will no longer be afraid to bring our products to the market. We won’t have any trouble transporting our harvests because the road has already been improved. It is guaranteed that our farm produce will not be damaged when we transport them.”)
Meanwhile, Tukucan Punong Barangay Eduardo Ngo-oy expressed his gratitude for the provision of government services through the SBDP in their barangay. “Ngayon mas mapapabilis na yung pagdadala ng aming gulay. Mas makakatiyak tayo na mas mapapaganda yung pamumuhay ng mga tao dito sa aming barangay. Bago ang implementasyon ng SBDP project, ang daan na ito ay napakaputik at napakadelikado kaya minsan natatagalan kaming dalhin ang aming ng mga gulay sa centro, (We will be able to import vegetables more quickly now. And we are confident that the lives of the people in our barangay will improve. Before the SBDP project was implemented here, this road was so muddy and dangerous, so it took us more time to bring our vegetables to town proper.)
SBDP is a hallmark program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities, the SBDP forms part of the government’s whole-of-nation approach in fighting the communist armed rebellion in the countryside.
The program aims to eradicate the root causes of insurgency, poverty, and social injustice in remote communities across the country identified to have been influenced by communist ideologies. By PMTG
