OPAPRU breaks ground on ₱40M road, evacuation center in Burauen, Leyte
OPAPRU broke ground on ₱40M in PAMANA-funded infrastructure projects in Burauen, Leyte on June 24 — including a road connecting two barangays and an evacuation center — bringing essential services and peace dividends to conflict-vulnerable communities in the province.
NEWS
6/30/20262 min read
BURAUEN, LEYTE — Residents of this landlocked mountain municipality are closer to better roads, safer shelter and stronger ties to the rest of Leyte Province, after the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) led a groundbreaking ceremony and signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for two major infrastructure projects under the PAMANA Program on June 24.
The projects — a ₱30 million road connecting Barangay Patag to Barangay Villa Patria (Phase I) and a ₱10 million evacuation center with a covered court in Barangay Patag — are funded under PAMANA's FY 2026 budget. The road will ease the movement of people and goods between communities, while the evacuation center will give residents a safe, reliable refuge during calamities.
Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento, who led the ceremony, said infrastructure gains must translate into real improvements in people's lives.
"The government will be better off if instead of working for, we work with the people," he said, citing Article XIII of the Philippine Constitution, which mandates active citizen participation.
Sarmiento also introduced what he called a "human capital production line" approach, urging the local government to invest in early childhood development alongside physical infrastructure.
"I'm challenging Burauen to also adopt a human capital production line approach. One of the formative periods for the brain is the first 1,000 days. Zero to five is 90% of development, and the remaining 10% from six years old up to 25 years old. The important days are the first 1,000," he said.
He further called on OPAPRU to organize former combatants into associations that could participate in the Municipal Development Council — giving them a democratic platform to raise concerns and engage in governance rather than armed conflict.
Mayor Fe Sudario-Renomeron expressed the municipality's gratitude and called on residents to match the government's effort with active participation in community development.
OPAPRU has also been helping organize former combatants into FR-led associations to support their reintegration into mainstream society, with Sarmiento recommending they be given representation on the Municipal Development Council as a peaceful avenue for raising concerns.
The PAMANA Program is the national government's flagship peace and development initiative, targeting conflict-affected, conflict-vulnerable and geographically isolated communities through infrastructure and socio-economic interventions that expand access to services and sustain lasting peace.
For more information, visit peace.gov.ph or follow OPAPRU on Facebook, Instagram and X at @peacegovph.
