THE ‘Support to Barangay Development Program’ (SBDP), the development component of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), has already completed nearly half of the 2,319 projects it implemented last year, while 2 projects out of the 1,724 projects slated for this year for the benefit of 1,406 villages/barangays have also been completed.
In a summary report, the task force said that as of November 8, 2022, 1,051 projects have been finished last year for a completion rate of 45.32 percent while the balance of 1,171 projects are still undergoing completion.
In 2021, the SBDP has been given a funding of P16.44 billion by Congress of which, 41.88 percent or P6.885 billion have already been disbursed. The obligated fund, however has already reached P14.047 billion equivalent to 85.44 percent.
In terms of the equivalent amount based on actual physical accomplishments of the identified projects, this reached 70.21 percent equivalent to P11.542 billion.
The 2021 SBDP aims to assist 822 barangays that were formerly “havens” of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
The bulk of the projects, 607, were concentrated in Region XI (Davao region), of which 213 have been completed while 355 are still ongoing.
These projects have been instrumental in breaking the back of local support for the CPP-NPA in the region; last October 12, 2022, the Davao Regional Peace and Order Council finally declared the entire region as ‘insurgency-free’ after nearly five decades of presence and influence by the terrorist movement in its localities.
Prior to this, Region XI has been considered as the “last bastion” of communist power and influence in the entire country.
Breakdown of assistance
In 2021, CAR received 26 projects with 8 villages as beneficiaries of which 18 have been completed. For 2022, 49 more projects have been identified for the benefit of 42 villages of which 24 projects have already been procured and ready for implementation.
For Region 1, 10 projects were fully completed for the benefit of 2 villages; in 2022, 51 more projects have been identified for the benefit of 33 more villages of which 5 projects have already been procured.
For Region 2, 9 out of the 22 projects have been completed last year with 6 villages as beneficiaries. This year, 104 more projects have been identified for the benefit of 82 villages.
In Region 3, 3 of the 5 identified projects for the benefit of 1 village have been completed. For this year however, the figure has jumped to 55 projects for the benefit of 47 villages.
For Calabarzon (Region 4-A), 35 of the 71 projects have been completed for the benefit of 30 villages while for this year, 35 additional projects benefiting 31 villages have been identified.
For Region 4-B (Mimaropa), 109 projects for the benefit of 25 villages have been identified of which 69 have already been completed. This year, 70 more projects to help 54 villages have been identified.
In Region 5 (Bicol), 164 projects for the benefit of 49 villages have been identified of which 125 projects have already been completed. It is also in Bicol that 2 out of the 343 projects for this year have been completed with 8 others already ongoing and 26 projects already procured. These projects aim to assist 280 villages.
For Region 6, 115 projects out of the 314 projects committed have been completed for the benefit of 84 villages. In addition, 100 more projects for the benefit of 91 villages have been assigned to the region.
There was no identified project for Region 7 last year. However, 97 projects for the benefit of 86 villages have been identified for the current year.
For region 8 (Eastern Visayas), 35 projects for the benefit of 6 villages were implemented in 2021 of which 17 have already been completed.
This year, however, next to Region 5, Region 8 would have the most number of projects at 266 projects targeting 200 villages as beneficiaries, with 67 projects already passed the procurement stage.
The concentration of projects in Region 8 is also borne by the realization that it would be the “last battleground” between the government and the communist terrorist movement.
National Security Adviser (NSA) Clarita Carlos, at a regional security forum in Tacloban City last November 11, 2022, entertained her hope that Region 8, particularly Samar, would be declared as insurgency-free by next year (see related story in this issue).
For Region 9, 37 out of the 86 identified projects for the benefit of 34 villages have been completed while 44 more projects with 39 villages as beneficiaries have been identified for this year.
Last year, Region 10 received the fourth highest number of SBDP projects at 307 projects after Region 11/Davao (607 projects), Region 13 (357 projects) and, Region 6 (314 projects).
These projects aim to help 119 villages. For the current year, Region 10 would get the third highest number of projects at 177 projects after Region 5 and Region 8, with the aim of benefiting 147 villages.
For Region 12, 108 out of the 206 projects were completed last year, benefiting 62 villages. For the current year, 92 more projects to assist 78 villages have been identified.
In Region 13, 357 projects for the benefit of 191 villages have been identified last year of which 158 have been completed. For this year, 106 more projects have been lined in order to assist 94 villages.
The SBDP comes in various forms and components—clean water supply, health centers, livelihood assistance, farm-to-market roads, education, etc.,– based on the actual needs and proposals of the communities concerned of what they actually want to see happen in their communities.
The SBDP is also the government’s “concrete demonstration” of its commitment to poor and isolated communities all over the country that the government is sincere in giving them access to all available opportunities to improve their lives.
The achievements of the SBDP also helped the marginalized sectors to firmly stand behind the government as it helped them turn away from the deceptive propaganda of the CPP-NPA.