By Priam Nepomuceno
MANILA – The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Thursday traced the attacks and criticisms against the Barangay Development Program (BDP) to the declining presence and influence of communist insurgents.
Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, spokesperson of the Joint Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (JRTF-ELCAC), was referring to criticisms by groups on supposedly irregular or non-existent BDP projects in the countryside.
One of these claims is the allegation that 16 BDP projects in Iloilo are “ghost projects.”
“You do not even have the support of the people. Sinasabi ninyong kasama ninyo ang taong-bayan, nananaginip kayo nang gising (You are claiming that the people are behind you, you are just dreaming),” Gonzales said.
Gonzales said communities embracing peace and development have increasingly rejected armed insurgency and its political narratives.
He said the anti-government propaganda cannot erase roads that have been opened, classrooms built, livelihoods restored and communities finally reached by government services.
The NTF-ELCAC earlier reported that around PHP44.90 billion worth of development investments were provided by the BDP, from 2021 to 2027, to 5,638 villages formerly influenced or controlled by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front.
These investments benefitted more than 16 million Filipinos through roads, classrooms, potable water, electrification and health facilities. (PNA)
