NATIONAL Security Adviser and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) vice chairman Eduardo Año yesterday urged lawmakers to approve the proposed P10 million budget each for 864 barangays for next year to help end the country’s insurgency problem.
In a press briefing, Año said 5,293 Support Barangay Development Program (SBDP)-related projects have either been completed, being completed, or in various stages of procurement.
He said that since its inception in 2020, the NTF-ELCAC’s flagship program saw the “emancipation” of at least 3,000 barangays from the influence of the communist movement.
“Today, thousands are in line and longing to be finally free from the clutches of these communist terrorist groups (CTGs) that brought nothing but misery, death and destruction to our fellow Filipinos in these once neglected and hard to reach areas,” said Año.
“Step by step, brick by brick, we are fulfilling the NTF-ELCAC’s avowed mission to bring the government closer to the areas formerly under the influence of the CTGs,” he added.
Año said a lot more has to be accomplished “as we continue to strike at the very heart of the local communist armed conflict.”
The SBDP calls for the construction of farm-to-market roads, school buildings, health stations, water and sanitation facilities and other needed projects in far-flung barangays previously called by CTGs.
Año said the SBDP is the “most effective way to address the root causes of this long-standing communist insurgency.”
“As we celebrate this notable achievement, we call upon members of Congress to favorably consider and pass the budget of the NTF-ELCAC flagship program for 2024,” said Año.
He said providing funds for these barangays under the SBDP for 2024 will “uplift the lives of our people in those isolated and influenced barangays once under the control of the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army).”
“We are now in the point in history that we are really going to finish this long menace of insurgency and finally we’ll be able to have a peaceful and progressive country,” he also said.
Latest military estimates placed the NPA strength at around 2,000 men, from a high of around 28,000 in the 1980s.
NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres described the SBDP as a “game-changer in our campaign in ending the local communist terrorist (group).”
“Empowering them (barangay residents in far-flung areas around the country) on what they need in their areas drastically changes the landscape of their socio-economic life,” said Torres.
“This translate to tangibles like raising the family income, improving the people’s access to education, health, food security, among others,” he added.
