By Christina Hermoso A Catholic Church leader has called for more opportunities in the countryside to decongest Metro Manila. Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo (CBCP / MANILA BULLETIN) Manila Archdiocese Apostolic Administrator Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo said the government’s “Balik Probinsya” (Back-to-the Province) program is actually an old initiative that failed to gain ground in the past. “The development plan and the budget should all be aligned to give importance to the rural areas in order to develop the agricultural and fishery sectors of our society,” Pabillo said in a Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News post. The difficulty in trying to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the National Capital Region (NCR), which continues to have the highest number of cases, has highlighted anew the need for more jobs and opportunities in the rural areas in order to decongest Metro Manila. President Duterte launched the “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program,” which seeks to boost countryside development to finally decongest Metro Manila. “The back to the province program is not new. There have been many such programs in the past and they have all failed. Those who went back to their provinces eventually came back to the city for lack of opportunities in their hometowns,” the prelate said. Aside from providing workers with skills training, Pabillo cited the need for more rural investments.. “Aside from skills training and financial assistance, the government and the business sector should pour massive investments in rural areas so there will be more jobs and more opportunities in the provinces,” Pabillo said. “The pandemic should serve as a wake-up call for the government to pay attention to the neglected sector of agriculture,” he added as he cited the important role played by farmers and the fisherfolk in providing food and in helping sustain the country’s economy.