National Security Adviser Eduardo Año on Tuesday urged the House of Representatives to continue supporting the “Barangay Development Program” (BDP), noting that it has been effective in helping neutralize communist insurgency in the country.
In a statement, Año also urged the Senate and the House to approve the proposed BDP budget for 2024, which would be needed by at least 864 barangays previously influenced or controlled by the communist movement.
“(I’m appealing) to all the members of Congress and Senate to please support us and provide funds for the SBDP (Support to the Barangay Development Project) for 2024,” he said.
The BDP budget for next year is placed at P8.6 billion. Under the proposed budget, each of the recipient barangays would be allotted P10 million worth of development projects in line with Presiden Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s vision to unify the country and for the government to become “bringers of peace” to the Filipino people.
Mr. Marcos chairs the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which exists under Executive Order 70 issued in 2018 by former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Año, who is also NTF-ELCAC co-vice chair along with Vice President Sara Duterte, pointed out that the quest to free the country from the scourge of the almost five-decade-old bloody armed struggle by the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) is already in its final lap this year.