It’s not exactly a new idea but the Duterte administration has given it a fresh look in the light of the current Covid-19 pandemic, which is engendered by severe congestion in Metro Manila. How can the authorities enforce a quarantine in slum areas when there is hardly a room for a family of eight to stay inside a 4-meter by 4-meter abode? How can one practice social distancing when the entire village resides in a vacant lot as big as three basketball courts? The influx of migrants from the provinces to Metro Manila to seek greener pastures has blighted the conditions of our inner cities. Absent any employment and resettlement program, the upsurge in population has created colonies of informal settlers, which has spawned a host of social problems.
The NCR confronts perennial issues of joblessness, crimes, health and sanitation, proliferation of drugs and other social menaces that have contributed to the decay of our cities. Unless something drastic is done, this depressing situation is bound to get worse. The initiative undertaken by Sen. Bong Go to introduce the “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program” (BP2 Program) is a timely intervention to address this issue. Admittedly, previous governments had considered it as part of their social reengineering efforts. For instance, under former President Benigno Aquino III, a similar scheme was launched to support the urban poor and to provide better opportunities for them. The program, however, failed despite its noble objective.
By virtue of Executive Order 114, the BP2 Program was institutionalized by President Duterte as a pillar of balanced regional development. The Program has recognized that the National Capital Region accounts for 38 percent of our country’s GDP and its population of roughly 13 million constitute 12.8 percent of our country’s total population based on the 2015 national census. The figures betray imbalanced concentration of people in Metro Manila, unequal distribution of wealth and the lack of opportunities in the countryside. The large population strains the limited resources of the LGUs that host them. The BP2 Program aims to promote inclusive development and equitable distribution of income and wealth around the country. Countryside development will be the focus of our government to decongest the NCR. Reverse migration will be encouraged and the provinces will be empowered to achieve development and prosperity.
In signing EO 114, President Duterte stressed the need to “ensure balanced regional development and equitable distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities through policies and programs that boost countrywide development and inclusive growth; provide adequate social services; and promote full employment, industrialization and an improved quality of life in rural areas.” In order to achieve them, the President is given temporary emergency authority to undertake measures as may be reasonable and necessary to implement the program, including reallocating, reprogramming and realigning savings from the budget of the executive department. Likewise, it created the “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Council” to be headed by the Executive Secretary as chairman to ensure that full implementation and complete government support is extended to the program.
What will stand in the way of effectively implementing the BP2 Program will be the lack of total support and comprehensive efforts to cover all the requirements of the program. Section 4, Par. C of EO 114 identified the four key areas such as social, welfare, health and employment to encourage the voluntary and immediate return of workers and the OFWs who are the target of this program. This means that provisions for housing, education, employment, and health services should be available. Beneficiaries of the program should have access to credit facilities to enable them to start their own small businesses. Security and peace and order in their destination should be assured. Affordable dwellings and well-provided resettlement areas are necessary. There will be a need for more clinics, health centers and schools. Community colleges and vocational and technical schools should be opened. Dispersal of industries and location of eco zones and BPOs should be carried out to provide more employment opportunities. All of this should be supported by more infrastructures, power and water sources and better transportation and communication facilities. The absence or lack of them will be a recipe for failure, which will only make the poor poorer and more demoralized. It will be the equivalent of a domestic Marshall Plan for the disadvantaged urban dwellers who failed to adapt to city life. The program implementors should prove to all cynics that the government can solve the problem of inner cities. The creation of resilient and sustainable communities that will keep its inhabitants to stay is the end goal of the BP2 Program.
One does not have to be original to pursue a panacea to our social ills. I salute Sen. Bong Go for taking this worthy initiative to address a lingering problem, which has long bedeviled Metro Manila. With his special closeness to President Duterte and the infinite resources that will be made available to the BP2 Council, I trust that this time his efforts will make a huge difference. If it works, our nation will be forever grateful and indebted to Sen. Bong Go.