The Philippine Army has declared that 76 barangays in Negros Occidental are now insurgency-free.
This according to Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, during the 4th quarter joint Provincial Peace and Order and Anti-Drug Abuse Council meeting Nov. 9 at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City.
Of the 76 barangays, 60 of them were cleared last year until the first quarter of 2020, and 16 more during the 2nd and 3rd quarter of the year.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson disclosed that an insurgency-free barangay will receive P20 million worth of projects from the national government.
The financial assistance is under the P16 billion “Barangay Development Program” of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which approval being questioned by the Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives.
Each cleared barangay will be given P20 million for the construction of various infrastructures, including a concrete farm-to market road (P12 million), a school building with four classrooms (P3 million), water and sanitation systems (P2 million), national greening or forest protection program (P1.5 million), and health stations (P1.5 million), said Maj. Cenon Pancito, 3rd Infantry Division spokesperson.
While Negros Occidental has 601 barangays, excluding 61 in Bacolod City, Lacson said it is possible to have an insurgency-cleared barangay, adding that the P20 million budget reward is already a big amount to these areas.
As of this time, Pancito said that 130 barangays in Region 6 have already been cleared of insurgents, while 333 other barangays are also being threatened for infiltration by the CPP-NPA.
There are 4,051 barangays in Western Visayas, of which 662 are in Negros Occidental. – GPB
