DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Aug. 25 (PIA) -- Valencia Mayor Edgar Teves has vowed to bring real development and inclusive growth in Sitio Calinawan, a former rebel-threatened area, now that it has officially become part of Brgy. Dobdob, Valencia.

Teves said this after local officials of Sibulan town led by Vice Mayor Marcela Bartoces turned over Sitio Calinawan to Valencia town on Aug. 20.

This came five years after the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) informed the local government that Sitio Calinawan lies within the territory of Valencia and that Brgy. Enrique Villanueva of Sibulan where Sitio Calinawan previously belonged to has actually no jurisdiction over it.

Speaking before hundreds of Calinawan residents, Teves said Sitio Calinawan, with more than 300 households, will benefit from his administration’s infrastructure projects, from construction of farm-to-market roads and multi-purpose covered court to improvement of the Calinawan Elementary School.

With this development, Sitio Calinawan, with an estimated land area of 263 hectares, now becomes part of Brgy. Dobdob, Valencia.

Barangay Dobdob is a priority barangay under the Negros Oriental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC), a whole-of-nation approach program of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to end insurgency.

Through ELCAC, Brgy. Dobdob now enjoys massive farm-to-market road network construction that links to the towns of Siaton and Sta. Catalina, with P130 million intended for road concreting and as future site for a sanitary landfill.

Teves added that Calinawan residents who will transfer residency and register as Valencia residents will enjoy various social services assistance like the Valencia Health Care program, electric subsidy refund, agricultural support program, among others. (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental with reports from MPIO Des Tilos Jr.)