By Valerie Taguba / Philippine Information Agency

BESAO, Mountain Province -- Development is slowly making its way in a remote barangay here starting with the improvement of its roads.

On Wednesday (August 18), residents of barangay Tamboan and local officials led by Governor Bonifacio C. Lacwasan Jr. and Congressman Maximo Y. Dalog Jr, other government officials and partners from the private sector, joined in the groundbreaking ceremony to officially mark the start of projects under the Local Government Support Fund - Support to Barangay Development Program (LGSF-SBDP) National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict for 2021.

These projects are the improvement of Tamboan Barangay Road, construction/ improvement of Sitio Ugawi access road, and construction/ improvement of Dandanac- Madagem access road, all in Tamboan.

These three projects are funded under the P20 million allotted to each SBDP beneficiary barangay to address the root causes of insurgency.

There are eight beneficiary barangays in the Cordillera Region with barangay Tamboan as the lone recipient in Mountain Province. There are six identified barangays in Abra and one in Kalinga covered under the 2021 SBDP.

The groundbreaking ceremony started with a mass celebrated by Pastor Mia Casingon, and followed by the laying of capsule and a short program.

Department of the Interior and Local Government-Mt. Province Provincial Director Anthony Ballug shared how the projects were conceptualized and approved. He said the SBDP is one of the implementing mechanisms of Executive Order No. 70 which aims to achieve inclusive and sustainable peace by ending local communist armed conflict. These projects will help in the socio-economic development of the not only of the barangays but the municipality as a whole.

Dalog Jr. congratulated the people of Tamboan for their cooperation with the government especially in the clearing of insurgency making way for services and projects to reach the people.

Lacwasan Jr. also shared how with a safe and peaceful environment, development is slowly making its way into the barangay starting with the road projects.

BGEN. Krishnamurte A. Mortela, Commanding Officer of 702nd Brigade, 7th ID Philippine Army, and Mt. Province Police Provincial Director -PCOL Ruben B. Andiso also imparted message of solidarity to the people of Tamboan.

Tamboan Barangay Captain Emerson Mangallay welcomed all these positive developments in his barangay and thanked the various government offices for making these happen. The construction/ improvement of the Dandanac- Madagem access road has actually started. (JDP/VLT-PIA CAR)