Residents of insurgency-cleared Brgy. Banago in Bacolod get benefits

Residents of Barangay Banago, the lone insurgency-cleared village in Bacolod City, has received various benefits under the Barangay Development Program (BDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

As of Monday, at least 313 were granted medical, burial, and educational assistance from a portion of the village’s P20-million funding provided by the BDP — 202 recipients on Nov. 4, 2021 and 111 during the September 22 payout.

Recipients of educational assistance included college, senior high and junior high school students who each got cash assistance of P10,000, P6,000 and P3,000, respectively, according to a statement.

Andrea Gatilago, 21, a village scholar and junior student at the Technological University of the Philippines – Visayas (TUPV), said she is blessed to have received the financial assistance which she will use for her school expenses.

Romelette Coquilla, 20, also a junior student of Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (CHMSC) -Talisay City, said the cash aid can help her purchase a computer laptop or mobile phone and purchase data load.

“This is a big help for us,” Coquilla said, as quoted by village officials.

Barangay Banago will also use the BDP funding for the construction of a multi-purpose evacuation center, burial assistance, medical assistance, educational or scholarship program, livelihood program, and training assistance.

Banago, once under the influence of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), is among the 26 insurgency-cleared villages in Negros Occidental.

The BDP is directed to rehabilitate and develop 822 barangays that were formerly guerrilla fronts of the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (NDF) in the countryside.

Each barangay is allotted P20 million for their projects.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.* (Nanette Guadalquiver, PNA)