BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The construction of P60 million infrastructure projects in three insurgency-cleared barangays of San Carlos City in Negros Occidental are now ongoing, according to Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte.
Pasaporte said that remote barangays of Nataban, Codcod and Quezon in San Carlos City, that used to be havens for New People’s Army rebels, are recipients of P20 million each in infrastructure projects under the Task Force-Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP).
Accompanied by Mayor Renato Gustilo and Lt. Col. J-Jay Javines, 79th Infantry Battalion commander, Pasaporte inspected the ongoing road concreting projects in those three barangays on May 17.
Under the SBDP, insurgency-free barangays will receive five core programs worth P20 million, which include farm-to-market roads, school buildings, water and sanitation systems, livelihood programs and health stations.
Pasaporte said the Armed Forces of the Philippines is supporting the NTF-ELCAC through SBDP by deploying teams of soldiers to determine the interventions needed in insurgency-cleared barangays.
We proposed interventions in terms of development projects aimed at addressing the root causes of insurgency such as lack of development projects and poverty, among others, he added.
The Department of Budget and Management has allocated P520 million in development funds for 26 insurgency-cleared barangays in Negros Occidental.*
