Go urges Marcos to continue Balik-Probinsya program

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go has urged the incoming Marcos administration to continue the government’s push for accelerated regional development through the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) program, saying that it will help the country recover from the pandemic.

“We urge the new administration to continue the implementation of the BP2 program to give our countrymen hope and choose to return to the provinces and settle there,” Go said in Filipino.

“Maybe not only continue, but also improve the program in the coming term (of president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.). We have the same goal, that is, to ensure that each Filipino will have a comfortable life in any corner of the country,” he said.

Go said with the initiative, the government will be able to further support rural development and create greater economic possibilities for Filipinos in all parts of the country as stated by the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom).

Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III, head of PopCom, has also urged the incoming Marcos administration to examine and evaluate the continuation of the BP2 program, saying that it will promote inclusive economic development across the country.

“So, part of the effort, we call this strategy, to really spread out the population, will be to equalize opportunities nationwide,” Perez said.

“And one of them is income disparity where we have high income in the National Capital Region (and) Calabarzon and low income in so many other regions. So the people go where incomes are higher,” he said in Filipino and English.

The PopCom chief also asked the next administration to promote policies that will encourage people to stay where they are and limit migration from rural to urban areas.

“We hope that the Balik Probinsya Program will be really studied in the next administration and will include the population dynamics and we are part of one of the committees there, we are supporting the strategic activities there,” he said.

Earlier, Go, a proponent of the BP2 program, welcomed the support from the private sector as various groups expressed intent to participate and contribute to the government’s push for accelerated regional development.

The senator encouraged more businesses to follow suit and invest in areas outside the country’s urban centers.