Negros mayors want P20 million for insurgency-free barangays restored

MANILA, Philippines — Mayors in Negros Occidental have enlisted the help of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to restore the P20-million budget for insurgency-free barangays.

The budget for the Local Government Support Fund-Support to Barangay Development Program (LGSF-SBDP) of the controversial National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) was slashed by almost 80 percent this year.

The BDP is a hallmark program of the NTF-ELCAC, aimed at developing former conflict-prone communities.

Under the program, each insurgency-cleared barangay is allocated P20 million for the construction of farm-to-market roads, classrooms, water and sanitation systems, health stations and the implementation of livelihood projects.

Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr., Escalante City Mayor Melecio Yap, Manapla Mayor Manuel Escalante Jr. and Don Salvador Benedicto Mayor Marxlen dela Cruz met with Teodoro during the recent Negros Trade Fair at Glorietta 2 in Makati City.

Escalante said they were assured by Teodoro that he would push for the reinstatement of the P20-million budget.

There were 33 Negros barangays declared insurgency-free by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with some receiving P20 million worth of infrastructure projects from the NTF-ELCAC through its LGSF-SBDP.

Most of the insurgency-free barangays have yet to receive it.

Escalante said the LGSF-SBDP was reduced to P4 million in 2022 and increased to P6 million this year.