Over 16 million Filipinos benefit from BDP projects – NTF-Elcac

MANILA, Philippines – The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) said over 16 million Filipinos residing in areas formerly controlled by communist rebels  have benefited from development projects under the Barangay Development Program (BDP).

These individuals reside in about 5,638 villages formerly controlled by the  Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), the task force said in a news release on Thursday.

READ: Receding insurgency due to ongoing gov’t dev’t programs – NTF-Elcac

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The P44.9-billion worth of developmental projects, set for implementation from 2021 to 2026, transformed the formerly “conflict-affected communities into emerging centers of peace, economic opportunity and public service delivery.”

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For this year alone, around P8.08 billion was allocated for projects in more than 800 insurgency-cleared villages.

The projects, the news release said, “fulfill the promises of Executive Order (EO) No. 70, signed in December 2018, by bringing roads, schools, electricity, potable water and health facilities to geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs).”

Under EO 70, the government adopted a whole-of-nation strategy integrating security operations with socioeconomic development, good governance and community participation.

Data from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as of Oct. 13, 2026, show that BDP, supported through the Local Government Support Fund–Support to the BDP (LGSF-SBDP), has delivered 1,592.85 kilometers of farm-to-market roads, 964 classrooms, 23,763 streetlights, 1,178 water and sanitation systems, 9,343 electrification projects, and 551 health and medical stations.

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“For the NTF-Elcac, the convergence of 5,638 BDP beneficiary barangays and 33,381 barangays covered by SIPS (Stable Internal Peace and Security) declarations represents a decisive shift in the country’s long struggle against communist armed insurgency: the former demonstrates the scale of development interventions in previously affected communities, while the latter reflects the broader expansion of stable peace and security across the archipelago,” the news release added. 

Government intervention

Meanwhile, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Secretary Mel Senen Sarminento, in a statement on Thursday, commended the decisive leadership and swift action carried out by the military, police, and joint Government of the Philippines (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace mechanisms in ending the firefight that broke out between armed groups in Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao del Sur.

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The armed conflict broke out in the late morning of Oct. 8, in Sitio Libal and Barangays Kulambog and Papakan, Sultan sa Barongis. /jpv