Balik Probinsya program pushed to address workers woes amid COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker is pushing for the implementation of the Balik Probinsya program as workers in Metro Manila return to provinces due to lack of employment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

House Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymond Villafuerte Jr. said that in his province alone, there are over 10,000 people who want to return home.

“Now is the time for the government to implement the Balik Probinsya Program [to address] the exodus of these construction workers and other workers from the National Capital Region (NCR),”  Villafuerte said during the online meeting of the social amelioration cluster of the House’s Defeat COVID-19 Committee (DCC) on Friday.

“Going back to their home is not a journey of failure but a return of hope,” he added.

According to Villafuerte, the program would not only spur economic growth in provinces but also provide employment opportunities for residents through infrastructure projects.

“They went to Manila looking for greener pasture, looking for a job because in the provinces there is really no employment opportunities. There are no factories, there is nothing,”

“So what happens after the COVID is they have to come home. Some people are still there, stranded, hungry,” he added.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año has backed the said proposal, saying that it as a possible long-term solution to congestion in the NCR.

Año said the Balik Probinsiya program would end recurring problems in urban areas, such as worsening traffic, uneven development, poor sanitation, poor health care, and overpopulation.

/MUF