BONTOC, Mountain Province – Twelve barangays in Mountain Province are set to implement the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) this year as part of the continuing effort of the government to engage communities through developmental initiatives they themselves identify.
Department of the Interior and Local Government Provincial Director Evelyn B. Trinidad reported during the recent Provincial Peace and Order Council first quarter meeting that the barangays expected to undergo the various phases of the RSCP are Agawa, Ambagiw, Catengan, Gueday, Lacmaan, Laylaya, Suquib in Besao; and Bantey, Batayan, Duagan, Lubon and Sumadel in Tadian.
The RCSP aims to address the issues identified by the communities themselves through the provision of government projects while ensuring sustainable development and promoting peace. It also involves the identification of possible projects for the barangays and assessment needs of the community by the local officials and other stakeholders.
Priority projects identified by the barangays in the RCSP and aligned with the Barangay Development Plan are usually implemented under the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Aside from the 12 barangays, six more barangays in the province submitted a list of projects under the same program and are currently waiting for further instructions from the DILG.
Trinidad reported in 2022, 18 barangays benefitted from the SBDP. Five of these projects implemented in barangays Bagnen Proper, Bagnen Oriente, and Balintaugan in Bauko; Dalican in Bontoc, and Madongo in Sagada were already completed while 17 other development activities in the different municipalities are ongoing.
Among the ongoing SBDP projects recently inspected are the construction/upgrading of Angkileng-Balugan farm-to-market road at Barangay Angkileng; rehabilitation of Madongo-Nadatngan FMR at Barangay Madongo; construction of barangay health center in Pide and construction of elementary school in Barangay Fidelisan, all in Sagada; and three projects to improve the Bagnen Oriente-Bagnen Proper-Balintaugan Road in Bauko. – Clienteast Van B. Totanes
