The Kalayaan Barangays Program (KBP) Projects in Bicolandia

The communist insurgency remains as the principal threat to the national security and impedes the economic and development potentials of the Filipino nation. The criminal acts of the New Peoples Army continue to threaten the national objectives and the general well-being of the people. Hence, the counter-insurgency strategy necessitates a well-coordinated, comprehensive and holistic approach involving the entire government machinery and support by all the stakeholders to confront the root causes of insurgency. The National Internal Security Plan on addressing insurgency is to make use of the political, security, economic, psychosocial and military components of the organization. The AFP in pursuit of its constitutional mandate has already strengthened the collaboration between and among the uniformed service and other instrumentalities of national power to formulate mechanisms for a coordinated conduct of Internal Security Operations. One salient feature of the present campaign is the improvement of the “Kalayaan Barangays Program”, a government flagship project intended to transform conflict-affected communities into peace and development areas through the accelerated barangay-focused rehabilitation and developmimgent, through a convergence of efforts of national security and civilian agencies. The conflict-affected Kalayaan Barangays identified by the Department of National Defense and the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Peace Process will receive five (5) basic infrastructure projects consisting of farm to market roads, school buildings, water system, electrical and medical facilities. It is in this regard, that the services of the AFP Corps of Engineers were tapped to implement the infrastructure components of the program which are considered vital in the promotion of peace and development. Among the implementing units of the Corps, the Army’s 51st Engineer Brigade received the bulk of the job equivalent to 62.4% of the total budget and in Bicol Region was realized in 89 recipient barangays. Numerous KBP projects were already completed from the start that the program was launched, and for CY 2008, the 565th Engineer Construction Battalion as the implementing unit was able to complete sixty one (61) School Buildings, thirty seven (37) Water Systems and seventeen (17) Farm-to-Market Roads or a total of 115 projects benefiting 76 barangays in Albay, Sorsogon and Camarines Sur. 

Presently, there are still two (2) Water System, three (3) School Buildings and nine (9) Farm-to-Market Roads that were being implemented, as part of the CY 2008 KBP Projects. Pre-engineering works and documentary requirements are now being prepared for the implementation of the 2nd Trance of KBP projects for CY 2009, composed of fifty two (52) projects located at Guinobatan, Jovellar, Oas and Pio Duran all in the province of Albay, that aims to benefit thirteen (13) barangays. Each barangay will receive a School Building, FMR, Water System and Health Center. Development as we believe is one of the major component in the sustainable improvement of basic services to the people, giving them the opportunity to improve the quality of their lives, become a productive member of the community and strengthen their resolve in promoting peace and harmony among Filipinos. For the ARMY ENGINEERS, it is our modest contribution in winning insurgency through implementation of high value projects and becoming a progressive partner for Bicol development.