• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Barangay Development Program (BDP), the flagship peace and development initiative of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), has become a vital engine in the country’s poverty reduction efforts and should be strengthened and expanded to reach more communities.
This was underscored by National Anti-Poverty Commission Lead Convenor Secretary Lope Santos III amid calls from some groups to defund and abolish the NTF-ELCAC and the BDP.
In statement, Santos said that with the program already showing results in thousands of former conflict-affected communities, the government should not abandon the gains achieved under the BDP.
“Our revolution is a revolution against poverty — through concrete programs, projects, and services. The NTF-ELCAC serves as a vital bridge for peace and development — and we must not turn back now,” he said.
“We must sustain and strengthen the program, calling on the national agencies, local government units, private sector, and civil society to converge and build on these gains,” he added.
As of 2025, at least 34 barangays in Negros Occidental had been identified as beneficiaries of the BDP, based on available government and news records.
Citing records of the Philippine Statistics Authority, Santos reported that poverty incidence had notably declined, including in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs).
“The BDP should be expanded – not reduced. In my view, we should add more areas to the BDP, not cut it,” Santos said.
He stressed the need to connect more remote communities to main roads, telecommunications and electricity while bringing development programs to lowland, upland and coastal barangays.
Santos added that that armed conflict often prevents government programs and services from reaching vulnerable communities, contributing to persistent poverty.
Where peace is restored, farm-to-market roads, health facilities, schools and livelihood programs can be implemented, allowing communities to address their basic needs and improve their economic conditions, he said.
With an allocation of about P44 billion over five years, the program has supported infrastructure, social services and livelihood initiatives in cleared barangays, many of which are GIDAs inhabited by indigenous peoples, farmers and fisherfolk. | GPB
