NAPC chief pushes for expansion of NTF-Elcac’s dev’t program

MANILA, Philippines – The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-Elcac) Barangay Development Program (BDP) must be expanded to more communities after significant progress was recorded across more than 5,000 covered barangays, according to National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary Lope Santos III.

In a statement Sunday, Santos said poverty incidence in many local government units has already dropped below 20 percent, leaving fewer municipalities in the highest 29 percent bracket.

READ: NTF-Elcac briefs UN on rebel killings, pushes for int’l action

“This shows the BDP has been a vital vehicle for poverty reduction,” he said. “The BDP should be expanded —not reduced. We must connect more barangays to main roads, telecommunications, and electricity to bring development to lowland, upland, and coastal communities alike.”

Based on Philippine Statistics Authority data, poverty incidence has steadily declined in former conflict-affected areas: Northern Samar fell from 51.8 percent in 2015 to 19.3 percent  in 2021, while Eastern Samar dropped from 40.9 percent in 2018 to 24.7 percent by 2023.  

Similar poverty reductions were recorded in Caraga, the Bicol Region, and the Bangsamoro region where the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front operated, after the return of peace paved the way for faster community development.

The NTF-Elcac earlier reported that the BDP has funded nearly 10,000 projects worth PHP46.85 billion, benefiting about 15.85 million Filipinos in over 5,600 barangays. Completed projects include farm-to-market roads, classrooms, water systems, health stations, and electrification projects aimed at improving access to basic services in barangays covered.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government said completing these projects directly strengthens local governance and improves basic service delivery in isolated areas.

Santos said that armed conflict blocks government services, keeping residents poor. Once peace is restored, basic infrastructure and livelihood programs can enter, naturally driving down poverty.

Serving as a convergence framework, the BDP coordinates LGU development plans and national programs, and community participation, he said. 

Over five years, the program has allocated P44 billion for infrastructure, social services and livelihood support in cleared barangays, primarily benefiting Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) home to indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolk, and the country’s poorest sectors, he added.

Despite calls from some groups to defund and abolish NTF-Elcac and the BDP, Santos said that now is not the time to scale back the program’s verified gains.

“Our revolution is a revolution against poverty through concrete programs, projects, and services,” Santos said, calling on national agencies and the private sector to sustain the momentum. /jpv