UNPOPULAR OPINION | What Co Can’t Comprehend

Kabataan Partylist Representative Renee Co recently called to defund the Barangay Development Program (BDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), branding it as “bogus” and “militarized.” It is a bold claim coming from someone who seems to not—or refuses to—understand what the BDP actually does.

Rep. Co’s statements are long on rhetoric but short on substance. Her arguments echo the same agit-prop (agitation and propaganda) that has been recycled for years to discredit any initiative that genuinely brings the government closer to the people.

“Militarization”

The presence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in BDP-identified areas is not to impose control, but to secure the peace that enables development.

Roads, schools, and livelihood centers cannot be built in areas where violence and intimidation prevail. The role of the military is to ensure that communities are protected from threats and that government programs are safely implemented. This is not “militarization” — this is the state fulfilling its duty to guarantee safety and stability for its people.

Those who label it otherwise often forget that peace and development are inseparable. One cannot exist without the other, especially in areas once controlled by the NPA.

“Bogus Development Program”

If the program were truly “bogus,” there would be no tangible results. Yet across the country, thousands of barangays have been transformed because of the BDP.

Since its inception, the BDP has funded over 3,000 barangays, bringing infrastructure such as farm-to-market roads, school buildings, health centers, and water systems. Former conflict-affected communities are now hubs of agricultural productivity and social stability.

Local government units themselves, including those that used to be under threat from insurgent groups, can now safely deliver much-needed social services to their constituents. 

“Give BDP budget to SUCs”

Rep. Co pits the education sector against the countryside, as if national progress were a zero-sum game. But national development is not a matter of “either-or.” Education and peace are not competing priorities, they reinforce each other.

The BDP empowers rural communities to become safe and self-sustaining. In turn, this stability provides a stronger foundation for education and economic growth. Students deserve better facilities, yes—but so do farmers, fisherfolk, and indigenous communities who have long been deprived of basic services due to decades of conflict.

“Agrarian Reform and Industrialization”

No one disputes the importance of agrarian reform and industrialization. In fact, these are goals the government continues to pursue, being two of the roots of the conflicts that have fueled insurgency for more than five decades. 

The BDP addresses precisely the conditions that hinder agrarian reform and rural development—insecurity, poor access to markets, and lack of basic infrastructure. Without peace in these remote areas, no amount of land redistribution or industrial planning will take root.

What Co Can’t Comprehend

Rep. Co’s opposition to the BDP is very similar to the CPP’s stand against BDP, in that it only highlights the fact that the BDP is succeeding where insurgency once thrived. When government programs reach far-flung barangays, when former rebels reintegrate into society, and when people finally feel the presence of the state, the old narrative of armed struggle collapses.

That is why the CPP-NPA fears the BDP. Not because it’s “bogus,” but because it’s working. Defunding it means handing back to CPP-NPA the space they once used to sow fear and division.

The government’s anti-corruption drive should not be weaponized against programs that uplift communities. The call for accountability rings hollow when elected officials target the programs that ACTUALLY deliver goodwill to the people. 

If Rep. Co truly stands for the people as she claims to be, she should listen to the communities that have finally seen hope and progress through the BDP, instead of dismissing their stories as “bogus” and parroting the tired narrative of an organization she insists she is not a part of.