THE National Housing Authority (NHA) yesterday said final preparations are now underway to relocate families from Metro Manila to Cebu and Bohol provinces under the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) program.
NHA Management Services Group manager Agnes Agay, speaking on the public briefing “Laging Handa,” said the latest batch of BP2 beneficiaries are in addition to the 390 families that have been sent earlier to their home provinces as of October 28, 2021.
“For the past year, we have dispatched 390 beneficiaries to Leyte, Iloilo, Isabela, Camarines Sur, Negros Occidental, Davao del Norte, and Camiguin. This time, we are dispatching families to Cebu and Bohol,” Agay said.
Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa is a government initiative to decongest highly urbanized areas and disperse investment opportunities to the countryside to create jobs and spur growth in the poorer provinces.
The government suspended the implementation of the program last year after local government units complained that they are ill-prepared to take care of incoming families as provincial, city, and municipal government were hard-pressed to guard their borders against the spread of COVID-19.
Ormoc City officials earlier complained that the pre-agreed protocol was not followed where only families that have been cleared after testing and the required quarantine would be turned over to accepting LGUs.
Lanao del Sur aired the same sentiment, noting the province’s COVID-19 cases rose after it accepted families under the relocation program.
In May 2020, the Department of Health-Eastern Visayas Center for Health Development recorded the first cases of COVID-19 in Baybay City and the municipality of Tanuan, both in Leyte, after families arrived through the BP2 program.
