07/09/2026
𝗢𝗰𝗰𝗠𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝘄𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵
“Insurgency ends where the road begins."
Occidental Mindoro Lone District Rep. Leody “Odie” Tarriela said that the province's dramatic economic turnaround—from 2.1 percent growth to a nation-leading 11.2 percent—offers compelling evidence that bringing roads, electricity, livelihoods and basic government services to formerly conflict-affected communities can break the cycle of poverty and insurgency.
Speaking at a FAQCheck press conference, Tarriela said the province’s transformation demonstrates in concrete terms the principle behind the government’s whole-of-nation peace and development strategy: lasting peace cannot be secured by security operations alone, but must be sustained by development that people can see, use and feel in their everyday lives.
Tarriela declared that infrastructure has opened communities once isolated by geography, poverty and decades of armed conflict.
His remarks came amid Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showing Occidental Mindoro posting an extraordinary economic expansion, alongside recent statements from the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and Presidential Adviser on Poverty Alleviation Secretary Larry Gadon linking poverty reduction and inclusive development with the weakening of conditions historically exploited by insurgent groups.
For decades, Occidental Mindoro struggled on two fronts. It became known as the country’s “brownout capital,” with power interruptions reportedly lasting as long as 16 to 18 hours a day, while several of its remote communities remained vulnerable to communist insurgency. Today, the province is charting a markedly different course.
Improved power supply, expanding infrastructure and sustained peace and development interventions have helped create conditions for investment, employment and greater economic activity. Power interruptions have been substantially reduced, while seven of the province’s 11 municipalities had attained insurgency-free status by 2024.
“The 11.2 percent growth is not just a number—it is a symbol of real change,” Tarriela said. “With improved power supply, investors came, bringing more jobs and opportunities. Poverty and hunger fell. Government services are now truly felt—and that is why people no longer join or support armed groups.”
Tarriela pointed to the Municipality of Magsaysay as a concrete example of development reaching communities on the ground. Magsaysay became the first municipality in the country to complete an infrastructure project under the FY 2026 Local Government Support Fund–Support to the Barangay Development Program (LGSF-SBDP), making MIMAROPA the first region nationwide to report completed projects under the FY 2026 program.
Under the FY 2026 SBDP, eligible cleared barangays receive funding for high-impact community projects such as farm-to-market roads, water systems, school buildings, health stations and rural electrification—investments designed to address the very conditions of isolation and underdevelopment that allowed insurgency to persist for decades.
Tarriela likewise cited Sablayan, where farm-to-market roads and other development initiatives have begun connecting previously isolated communities to markets, schools, health facilities and government services.
“Kung nakapunta ka ng Mindoro, maraming far-flung communities na walang magandang access road,” Tarriela said. “Kaya nga may kasabihan tayo: ‘Insurgency ends where the road begins.’”
The congressman explained that isolation imposes a heavy economic burden on poor communities. Without reliable roads, transporting construction materials and agricultural products becomes prohibitively expensive; farmers struggle to bring produce to market, government services become harder to deliver, and geographically isolated communities remain vulnerable to exploitation and influence by armed groups.
A road, therefore, is more than concrete and steel. It connects a farmer to a market, a child to a school, a patient to a health center, and an isolated community to government.
“Kung maganda ang buhay ng tao at kumakain ng tatlong beses sa isang araw, nakapag-aral ang mga anak nila—doon nababawasan ang insurhensya,” Tarriela said.
He thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for sustaining development interventions in communities emerging from decades of insurgency, stressing that programs such as the BDP help convert security gains into lasting economic and social progress.
Tarriela acknowledged that Occidental Mindoro still faces challenges, particularly in achieving fully reliable electricity and consolidating lasting peace across the province. But its experience, he said, demonstrates what can happen when government addresses conflict not only through security measures, but by confronting the poverty, isolation and lack of opportunity on which insurgency has historically thrived.
He called for the expansion and sustained funding of the Barangay Development Program, saying many communities across the country are still waiting for the roads, water systems, schools, health facilities, electricity and livelihood opportunities now transforming parts of Occidental Mindoro.
For Tarriela, the province’s record economic performance carries a lesson that reaches far beyond Mindoro:
Where isolation retreats, opportunity advances. Where development takes root, insurgency loses ground. And where the roads begin, the path toward lasting peace begins with them.
