House leader files ‘balik probinsya’ bill

MANILA, Philippines — A House leader has filed a bill complementing the government’s “Balik Probinsya” (Back to the Country) program by revitalizing rural communities and creating jobs in the provinces to help decongest Metro Manila.

In filing House Bill No. 6970, Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. seeks the establishment of “township revitalization programs” nationwide through public investment and incentives.

The proposed “Balik Probinsya Act of 2020” lays down a two-pronged approach to encourage people who have migrated to Metro Manila to return to their provinces, and for those living in the country to stay there.

Rural growth

It provides for “comprehensive, multisectoral planning and a mix of top-down and bottom-up policy interventions that will channel public investment and create incentives for growth in the countryside” by encouraging businesses to relocate or expand to rural areas.

Villafuerte, who represents the second district of Camarines Sur in the legislature, said this could be accomplished through government incentives such as tax breaks, creation of jobs, and low-interest loans and financial aid for investors who will engage in “rural industrialization.”

“The flip side of urban congestion came to the fore amid the global health emergency as Metro Manila, which is the world’s 15th most densely populated city … easily became COVID-19’s epicenter in the country, accounting for 68 percent or almost seven out of every 10 infections,” he said.

Villafuerte filed the bill on the heels of President Duterte’s issuance of Executive Order No. 114, which mandates a multisectoral comprehensive program to decongest the capital and encourage Filipino workers here and abroad to go back to their home regions and live and work there for good.

But the lawmaker said this policy would only work if the government provided the essential physical and social infrastructure, tax incentives and other financial assistance to support the program.

He said previous government attempts to decongest Metro Manila by creating more jobs and livelihood opportunities in the provinces had all failed “in the absence of a multisectoral program anchored on public investments and incentives.”