‘Balik probinsya,’ not just a dream

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- Aside from the many lessons we learned from the pandemic such as discipline, this administration is out to embark on an ambitious project to decongest urban areas, particularly Metro Manila, by moving people back to their home provinces. Decentralization is an old dream of every administration since the time of President Ferdinand E. Marcos but failed to take off.

Dubbed  “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pagasa” Program (BP2); it was conceived by Senator Bong Go, President Duterte’s partner in the senate, that aims to provide new hope for people in their home provinces, many of whom were informal settlers in the urban settings.

A majority of job seekers from the Visayas and a minority number from other provinces in Mindanao, Southern Tagalog and Northern Luzon moved to NCR because of the lack of prospects in the provinces. That is still the main reason for the migration. Since after the First World War up to now, Metro Manila was the political center of the country where Malacanang, national line agencies and both houses of congress are located.

The constant increase in population in Metro Manila is mainly blamed on reasons that it is the educational center of the country since the Spanish era, as well as the hub where economic activities are happening 24/7. The tourist and entertainment districts that are shiny and lively all through the night, rain or shine, are where the action is. Thus providing a chain of job opportunities of all sorts.

To balance that, the government action is to create opportunities in the provinces so that people do not have to migrate to the NCR and other urban areas. However,

Malacanang and congress then, even while they were aware of the imbalance of opportunities, they did not have a program. Instead, they allowed more factories to be built in and around Metro Manila. Valenzuela alone, which is part of Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) has 15,000 factories.

I and my high school barkada then toured in three hours the huge San Miguel brewery there.

              Incidentally, the BP2 proposal is introduced at a time when we are fighting COVID-19, and supported by President Duterte through Executive Order 114. It is more than a response to the pandemic. But all the more that the program was what was being sought after to decongest Metro Manila. Senator Bong Go’s proposal also came at a time when concerned agencies are facing problems on how to repatriate thousands of OFWs to their hometowns.

That was why Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez was confused. He did not know if the thousands of OFWs were returning to Leyte to come home to their families because they were quarantined and locked down for more than 14 days, or were these the first batch of returnees under the Balik Probinsya program.

This forced Mayor Gomez to slam the national government for lack of coordination, considering that he was not furnished documents of the OFWs, and Ormoc City has not prepared additional quarantine houses.

The repatriation of the OFWs should not be mixed up with the BP2 because these are two different animals.

The OFWs have money, many of them have jobs in the countries they came from and they have families they can come home to in the provinces. On the other hand, the BP2 deals with people who are mostly jobless or underemployed and became informal settlers in the streets and esteros of Metro Manila. To resettle them in their home provinces, government should provide employment and housing.

EO 114 appears like any other presidential order consisting of mother statements. For example: “ensure balanced regional development, equitable distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities...” etc., etc. It does not order what exactly has to be done. Although it opens direction to addressing issues on the lack of job opportunities in the province and unequal distribution of wealth that caused an uncontrolled rise of population in the NCR. Unexpectedly, the congested areas in Metro Manila were the epicenters of the pandemic.

Congressman Joey Salceda of Albay defended BP2 that has been hit by critics of Duterte’s administration. The Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pagasa Program should be viewed as an offshoot of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is countryside development and not just a way to dump the urban poor in the provinces. It is a way to spread development to as many growth centers and provide viable options to people, he said.

My take is to look at decongestion and decentralization at many angles. While they are elusive dreams, they can be addressed by developing the countryside and providing the same opportunities so that those in the provinces need not go to the metropolis. People do not have to migrate to Manila if the economy is robust in the provinces.

               This stops rapid congestion and makes conditions more humane in cities. In reverse, good governance and a city population that is managed well can control urban development from spilling out to its provincial neighbor. The BLISTT (Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay) for example, should learn from experiences in Metro Manila.

But there is a disappointment in the program as its continuity is threatened by the fact that political administrations in this country exist for only six years. Thus, the chance for survival lies with local government units from the provincial level to the component cities, municipalities and barangays where there is greater possibility of program continuity.

Then there is the possibility that politicians will oppose the BP2 because it can lessen chances of winning an election since the informal settlers are the usual captured votes. This percentage of the Manila population is the most exploited during elections and even in street rallies. They are asked to make noise in exchange for money and food.

Aside from providing economic opportunities, jobs, housing, health care and education; private industries should be encouraged to relocate to the provinces. Tax incentives for agricultural should be applied and LGUs outside of highly urbanized cities create new urban centers. The BP2 should also implement genuine decentralization of political powers, and relocate the seat of governance outside the metropolis.

Last but not least, the program should urge the labor department to implement a national daily minimum wage. It may be wonderful that the returnees receive the essentials such as jobs and housing but if salaries are unbalanced, chances are they will migrate again to Manila where the wages are higher.