Billions worth of vital facilities and infrastructure projects have been implemented in parts of Region 12 (Soccsksargen) while government programs and services have reached dozens of previously “neglected” and marginalized communities in the last five years of the Duterte administration.
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Isidro Lapeña on Thursday said the implemented programs and projects have drastically improved the lives of many people and practically changed the socio-economic and development landscape of the region.
“We made sure that government services have reached the farthest and poorest communities of the region,” he said during the Soccsksargen leg of the nationwide launching of the “Duterte Legacy: Barangayanihan Caravan Towards National Recovery” held at Camp Fermin Lira here.
In terms of regional development, Lapeña said among the President’s legacy here was the completion early this month of the upgrading and rehabilitation of the city international airport.
The completed project, which was formally unveiled last Sept. 23, involved the expansion of the airport’s passenger terminal building and the installation of various vital facilities worth PHP959 million.
He said the improved airport will “certainly boost the economic growth” of the city and the entire Region 12.
Lapeña, the Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security of Region 12, said the airport project’s completion is being complemented by billions worth of road-related projects in parts of the region, among them the PHP3.4 billion Surallah-Tboli-San Jose road.
The road project traverses the municipalities of Surallah and Tboli in South Cotabato and ends in Barangay San Jose here.
He said the road network, which is now 93 percent complete, will fast-track the movement of goods from South Cotabato and the neighboring areas to the major markets in the area.
“These are just two of the many projects that have been implemented in the region and most are now nearing completion. There are still programs that are about to be initiated (in the coming months,” the official said.
In line with the President’s efforts to bring government services directly to the people, he said the Regional Development Council of Region 12 pushed for the establishment of a Pag-IBIG Fund office in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, and a consular office of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Kidapawan City.
To improve regional peace and order, he said the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict implemented various convergence initiatives that helped transform former conflict-affected communities into peaceful and productive areas.
These were augmented by support programs of concerned agencies, among them the revitalized “Pulis sa Barangay” community immersion program of the Philippine National Police.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government-Region 12 complemented these efforts through the series of convergence service caravans in selected communities in the region.
As part of the intensified ant-insurgency operations in the region, he said two major New People’s Army (NPA) units, Guerrilla Fronts 71 and 51, had been dismantled.
Since last year, Lapeña said over 6,600 former NPA rebels and sympathizers surrendered since last year and renewed their allegiance to the government, leading to the recovery of some 149 firearms.
TESDA supported these initiatives through its flagship Project TALA or “TESDA Alay Ay Liwanag at Asenso,” which was able to energize through solar power several remote villages in the region.
The recipients include residents of Sitio Blit, Barangay Ned in Lake Sebu town, South Cotabato, which was finally energized last April after nearly seven decades.
The project also covers Sitio Bukay-el in Barangay Sinapulan, Columbio town in Sultan Kudarat, as well as in Barangay Upper Suyan in Malapatan, and Barangay Datal Anggas, Alabel town in Sarangani.
Under its Project IPEACE or the Indigenous People (IP) Empowered Agripreneurs Towards a Collective End, he said TESDA-12 was able to train over 1,600 IPs on organic farming and agricultural production.
Lapeña said the program was mainly aimed to ensure sufficient food for IP families and enable them to generate sustainable livelihood.
In Alabel, Sarangani, he said a weekly “food hub” featuring harvests of the beneficiaries already generated around PHP1 million income in the last six months.
In terms of education, the official said the Commission on Higher Education has assisted some 103,079 tertiary scholars in the region since 2017 while TESDA was able to provide skills training to 639,116 scholars from 2016.
The beneficiaries included former NPA rebels and IP residents from parts of the region, he said.
Lapeña said the Department of Agriculture was able to help maintain the region’s status as among the top food producers while the Department of Agrarian Reform distributed land titles covering some 1,592 hectares to over 1,000 beneficiaries.
In terms of health interventions, the Office of the President helped establish in the last three years at least five Malasakit Centers in the region.
These are situated at the Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital here, South Cotabato Provincial Hospital in Koronadal City, Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital in Isulan town, Cotabato Provincial Hospital in Kidapawan City, and the Cotabato Regional Medical Center in Cotabato City. (PNA)
