DAGYAWAN SA BARANGAY

Loon barangays seek RCSP

funds for roads, streetlight

BONGCO, Loon, Bohol (PIA)—Barangays of this insurgency threatened isolated depressed areas atop the Maribojoc mountain range aspire to get their crude roads converted into standard 10 meter concrete roads to facilitate the entry of government services and keep spurious groups off their communities.

Isolated by seemingly impenetrable jungles and steep slopes, Barangays Bongco, Genomoan, Cantam-is Bago and Cantam-is Baslay have been regular resting sites for former rebels on their patrols, before Bohol was declared insurgency free.

And with the possible funding from the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP), local officials along with government agencies lobby for the funding of roads that can open the barangays for more economic activities and drive the communist terrorists away.

Barangays into farming, the bad roads are also the reason why their products could not get to the markets in prime condition, farmers here complained.

“Without the proper roads, especially because the trails are dark, it would be convenient for armed communist terrorists to use the barangays as transit points during their sorties,” shares Barangay Bongco chairman Nicolas Comar Jr., on the sidelines of the Talakayan sa Mamamayan; another highlight of the Dagyawan sa Barangay Service Caravan which the government brought here.

“During these sorties too, rebels simply knock on the doors of isolated houses to ask for water, food and provisions and in fear, people hardly decline,” he hinted.

At the Talakayan sa Mamamayan, officials of Loon’s cluster of barangays officially presented their crafted Barangay Development Plans (BDP), one crafter with the technical guidance and assistance of DILG local Government Operations Officers (LGOO) and community organizers.

The BDPs identify a common issue: the opening and establishment of road networks with lighting facilities, as priority.

“As the RCSP empowers conflict-affected areas and local government units (LGUs) and communities, a contrast to the past system when communities were not given the opportunity to pick and identify their development projects. And while the DILG brings government services and interventions to the grassroots level, giving communities a say in their plans, ensures that development is sustained and peace is promoted,” explains DILG Bohol Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales.

“Opening and improving roads entail a long and tedious process, and the local officials in the barangays need to iron out the details like cadastral mapping, road right of way acquisition by deed of donation or sale, and agreeing with land owners whose properties are affected by the infrastructure development,” volunteer Department of Public Works and Highways officials present during the Talakayan.

“Lucky for these barangays, the DILG and the local officials have worked out and complied with the major requirements, documents needed for the projects to be funded by any government funding source, including the DPWH,” Loon MLGOO Glenda Laure said.

Talakayan, another highlight of the Dagyawan sa Barangay also allows government agencies to pool in resources to deliver identified priority projects or contribute to its completion or implementation.

This also happens to be the gist of Executive Order No 70, which details the country’s whole-of-nation approach to peace. (PIABohol)

FEARFUL NO MORE. Bongco Barangay Chairman Nicolas Comar Jr., led residents of the mountain barangays of Loon to swear never to let the communist terrorists sow terror again in their barangays and hold them in fear, so they could provide for the terrorists provisions. (PIABohol)

INTEGRATED PLANNING. Residents of Barangaus Bongco, Genomoan, Cantam-is Baslay and Cantam-is Bago all agree that building a better network of roads in their areas can facilitate the faster entry of government services and drive off crime groups that feed on the people’s fear. (PIABohol)