BAGUIO CITY(PIA) -- Registration of applicants to the Balik Probinsya Bagong Pagasa Program (BP2) of the government is ongoing and awaiting its roll-out in the Cordillera region.

The BP2 Program aims to provide hope for a better future to Filipinos through equity in resources throughout the country that will boost countryside development.

Department of Housing Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) Public Housing and Settlement Division Chief Neni Lou Caccas   said  target beneficiaries are those with low income who opt to move out of National Capital Region(NCR) or other highly urbanized cities and who voluntarily decide to return to the provinces; those who lost their jobs or their sources of income; those who are dwelling in NCR but with unsafe settlements; and those who are exposed to health and safety risk and other environmental hazards.

Applications may be filed via online (www.balikprobinsyabagongpagasa.com.ph) in barangay halls or at the National Housing Authority help desks.

Qualified applicants to the program  may  avail of livelihood assistance and packages, and training programs from the concerned agencies.

The BP2 roll out in the Cordillera region is expected within the year with Baguio and Benguet as the pilot receiving local governments, Caccas said.

National Housing Authority Senior Community Support Services Officer Chris Paul Mangalili said there are  547 applicants to the BP2 from the Cordillera region to date.  

Baguio has the highest with 166, followed by Abra with 152 and Apayao with 119.  There are 49 from Benguet, 47 from Kalinga, 34 from Mountain Province, and 29 from Ifugao.

Applicants to the program will  be assessed if they qualify and will be  validated.

Mangalili said a letter of intent (LOI) is a requirement for a receiving local government unit of the BP2 program. Baguio LGU, he said, already sent its LOI to the NHA to pursue with the project roll-out.

Agencies with livelihood and training assistance components who are members of the BP2 committee organized in the region are now preparing for the roll- out.

Department of Agriculture BP2 Focal Person Lito Mocati said the agency has allocated P6.28 million for the region. The livelihood component   is packaged as modules such as sets of vegetables, livestock, farm tools, seedlings, and fingerlings, if suitable.    

Based on the initial assessment of applicants, majority indicated the need for livelihood, said Caccas. (JDP/SCA-PIA-CAR)