OPAPP seeks P3.8-B budget to boost convergence programs in 2020

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said it was seeking a budget of P3.8 billion for 2020 to boost its convergence programs aimed at providing development interventions in rural, conflict-affected communities.

In a statement, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said “PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn” (PAMANA) projects would bring sustainable growth and peace to target communities.

“Projects such as farm-to-market roads, water supply systems, livelihood programs, and environmental protection initiatives are designed to be impact-driven and will hugely contribute to boosting socio-economic development in conflict-affected, vulnerable areas, and last-mile communities,” explained Galvez.

Communities that benefit from PAMANA projects are located in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Bicol-Quezon-Mindoro, Negros and Panay, Davao-Compostella Valley-Caraga zones, Central Mindanao, and ZamBaSulTa (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi).

OPAPP reported that over P386 million worth of PAMANA projects were completed in 2019 in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.

One completed PAMANA project was the installment of a water system in Parang, Maguindanao.

The Parang municipal government said the project provided 356 households with clean, potable water. — Julia Mari Ornedo/DVM, GMA News