MANILA -- The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) will ask the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) nearly P9 billion to fund its Barangay Development Program (BDP) next year, with 864 barangays as target beneficiaries.

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"Last meeting with the NTF-ELCAC, na-prepare na yung endorsement to DBM for P10 million each barangay, for 864 target barangays for 2024,” said Rene Valera, Director of the Office of Project Development Services of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Under the BDP, barangays formerly identified as "guerilla fronts" of the Communist Party of the Philippines and their armed wing New People's Army will receive funds for "sustainable rehabilitation and development" projects.

Valera said the proposed P10 million per barangay is lower than the amount they recommended the previous years so as not to be flagged by the DBM.

"So ang agreement natin, it's P10 million para hindi na mapapansin yan," he said.

Valera said that since the BDP was established, over 5,000 barangays have become beneficiaries of their programs.

"Kulang-kulang na 5,000 barangays na ang mabibigyan ng proyekto na kahilingan ng recepient barangays na pinagkaitan po ng mga development dahil sa kagagawan ng ating mga kapatid sa kaliwa," Valera said.

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NTF-ELCAC earlier claimed that the CPP-NPA's active guerilla fronts in the country have supposedly gone down to 2, which the communist party has denied.