DILG-10 Assistant Regional Director Yvette Tolentino-Sunga discusses the impact of the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) on local development during Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas on March 18, 2025. She emphasizes the program’s role in addressing the needs of vulnerable sectors and promoting peace and stability through community-driven projects. (Photo: DCC/PIA-10)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is helping transform conflict-affected areas in northern Mindanao into development zones.
During Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas on March 18, DILG Assistant Regional Director Yvette Tolentino-Sunga shared how areas previously known as insurgency strongholds have been cleared and are now benefiting from development projects through the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP).
A component of the NTF-ELCAC framework, RCSP helps barangays enhance development plans by identifying and prioritizing projects needed by the community. This locally driven initiative targets the needs of vulnerable sectors and promotes long-term peace and stability.
“The identified barangays under the Retooled Community Support Program are usually given the Support to Barangay Development Program. These infrastructure projects, they have choices. It can be school buildings, health centers, roads, water systems and even rural electrification. It is up to the barangay to identify,” Sunga said.
She noted that a water project, for example, benefits barangay residents by eliminating the need for children to fetch water from the river, improving safety and study conditions.
“So the welfare of our marginalized and vulnerable sectors is being looked into through these projects under the NTF-ELCAC,” she added.
Sunga said 15 barangays will be targeted for RCSP in 2025. These barangays are also expected to receive SBDP projects next year.
“For the DILG, the more that we need to strengthen our NTF-ELCAC because this will reflect and show how sincere we are to our former rebels, to the communities that we have cleared, and that the government is really doing something to address insurgency in their areas,” she said. (APB/PIA-10)
