Decent houses, livelihoods await Balik Probinsya families

By ALI G. MACABALANG

A decent and sturdy home, comparable to units in commercial housing subdivisions, and a sustainable livelihood program await families who will return home to Mindanao from crowded urban centers under the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program (BPBPP), according to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

DECENT HOME. One of the newly completed housing units for Balik Probinsya Program beneficiaries in Lanao del Norte. (Supplied)

A model house for the BPBPP in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte was showcased on Aug. 6 when MinDA Chair Manny Piñol and and TESDA Director General Isidro Lapeña visited the pilot village in Barangay Tacub of the municipality.

Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Q. Dimaporo and Kauswagan Mayor Rommel Arnado led the unveiling ceremony for public viewing.

The model house was constructed without government funds in a 6.3-hectare property donated by a private company supporting the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program pushed by Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go and endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The “Bagong Pag-asa Organic Village” in Kauswagan is one of the two pilot resettlement areas identified by MinDA for the BPBP Program in Mindanao.

The other site is in Kalawit, Zamboanga del Norte in an area with 200-hectares available for the beneficiary-families.

MinDA is the coordinating and implementing agency for the Balik Probinsya Program in Mindanao.

The “Bagong Pag-asa Organic Village” in Kauswagan will have 200 housing units of 50 Quadroplex to be funded by the National Housing Authority.

The returning families will be assisted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, trained by TESDA in livelihood activities and supported by the Department of Agriculture

In the Kauswagan Model Village, the 200 families will raise Organic Broiler Chicken and grow Organic Vegetables, both of which already have a pre-identified buyer under the Complete Value Chain Policy promoted by MinDA.

The Kauswagan and Kalawit Model Villages of the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program are two of the first four pilot projects to be implemented this year.

Two other pilot areas are in Camarines Sur in Bicol and in Leyte.

Funds for the completion of the 200 housing units in Kauswagan are expected to be downloaded by the NHA to the Local Government Unit of Kauswagan this year.

The Kauswagan Bagong Pagasa Organic Village is expected to be completed before the end of the year, Piñol said. (AGM)