Apayao folks in NPA site get road proj

By Liza Agoot  

LUNA, Apayao-- More than 1,500 residents of the two villages of the province which were threatened by New People's Army rebels are expected to benefit from the government’s road projects in the area, allowing their bananas to reach the markets.

“A part of Paco Valley is in Upper Atok, it is adjacent Aurora barangay of Pudtol town. It is where ‘our friends’ (referring to the NPA rebels) used as a passage in going to Lasam and Rizal towns in Cagayan starting the 1980s. Sometimes they also spend a few days there,” Flora town Mayor Rodolfo Juan said in a media interview last February 14.

Paco Valley used to be a stronghold of the NPA rebels like what Marag Valley was in the 70s up to the 80s.

The province of Apayao has listed two villages as Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) barangays-- Upper Atok and Malayugan, both in Flora following President Rodrigo Duterte’s issuance of Executive Order 70 or the ELCAC.

Juan recommended both villages to be included on the 49 ELCAC village list in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Both are classified as threatened villages.

Juan said Malayugan was also listed as it is a convergence of “those who come from Kalinga, Mountain Province, and the Ilocanos to the lowlands.”

He said in Upper Atok, the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) has funded the 11-kilometer road project that will connect three villages- Sta. Maria, Mallig and Upper Atok to the road system.

“The provincial government has counter parted the project,” he said, adding that the project is now being bid out.

In Malayugan, the municipal government has funded the first phase of the road opening, to make the village accessible. It is now in the process of procurement.

"When these projects are completed, the residents in Malayugan and Upper Atok, both of them, will have easier access to the market, they can already easily bring their quality banana produce,” Juan said in Ilocano.

Aside from the road project, the region’s longest cave was already assessed and evaluated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as a potential tourist destination.

“We have signed a memorandum with the organization that will manage the destination,” Juan said.

He said both villages are frequently visited by the local government officials so that the people will be constantly reminded of the government’s care for them.

“The municipal government is doing its best to bring the government to the farthest villages so that the residents can feel the sincerity of the programs of the government,” the mayor also said.

Flora town in Apayao is a third-class municipality with a population of 17,391.

Barangay Upper Atok has a population of 236 based on the 2015 census of the population while Malayugan has 1,294 people. (PNA)