NAPC: NTF-ELCAC’s BDP — Vital Poverty-Reduction Engine, Must Be Expanded, Not Defunded

August 23, 2026

The Barangay Development Program (BDP), the flagship peace and development initiative of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), has become a vital engine in the country’s poverty reduction efforts — and must be strengthened and expanded to reach more communities.

National Anti-Poverty Commission Lead Convenor Secretary Lope Santos III said this at the FAQCheck online press conference Wednesday, pointing to significant progress across over 5,000 covered barangays since 2021. Their analysis overlaying BDP coverage with Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Small Area Poverty Estimates showed that even in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA), poverty incidence has notably gone down.

"The BDP should be expanded — not reduced. In my view, we should add more areas to the BDP, not cut it. We must connect more barangays to main roads, telecommunications, and electricity. We must bring development to lowland, upland, and coastal communities alike. That is what we are seeing," Sec. Santos stated.

"Many LGUs have now dropped to below 20% poverty incidence, and fewer municipalities remain in the highest bracket of 29% and above. This shows the BDP has been a vital vehicle for poverty reduction," Santos stated.

Based on PSA data, poverty incidence has steadily declined in former conflict-affected areas: Northern Samar fell from 51.8% (2015) to 27.6% (2018) and further to 19.3% (2021), while Eastern Samar dropped from 40.9% (2018) to 24.7% (2023). Other areas including BARMM — where the MILF and MNLF operated — also showed significant reduction in poverty, following the same pattern observed across Caraga, Bicol Region, and former CTG-infiltrated barangays, where the return of peace paved the way for faster development.

Santos explained the clear link: armed conflict blocks government services, and blocked services keep people poor. Where peace is restored — farm-to-market roads, health facilities, schools, and livelihood programs can reach communities — and poverty naturally falls as basic needs are met.

He noted that the BDP serves as the convergence framework — bringing together LGU development plans, national programs, and community participation. With an allocation of ₱44 billion over five years, it coordinates infrastructure, social services, and livelihood support in cleared barangays — most of them GIDA areas home to Indigenous Peoples, farmers, and fisherfolk, the country's poorest sectors.

"The BDP is not the only program — it is the framework that brings everything together. That convergence — national agencies, LGUs, private sector, civil society — that is where the real power lies," Santos stated.

Sec. Santos further emphasized that because the program has delivered results — now is not the time to scale back or abandon the gains and efforts already started under the BDP and NTF-ELCAC, amid calls from some groups to defund and abolish the agency and the program.

"Our revolution is a revolution against poverty — through concrete programs, projects, and services. The NTF-ELCAC serves as a vital bridge for peace and development — and we must not turn back now. We must sustain and strengthen the program — calling on national agencies, LGUs, private sector, and civil society to converge and build on these gains," he declared.

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