PILAR, Abra – Residents of three barangays in this town now have barangay health stations (BHS) they could call their own after the three facilities built at a cost of P11.7 million were turned over to them. The building of three health care facilities in Barangays Gapang, Nagcanasan, and Ocup were funded under the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Department of the Interior and Local Government-Cordillera Director Araceli San Jose stressed that the inauguration and turnover of these three health stations signify the government's collaborative success in achieving peace and security in the municipality of Pilar. Residents stand to benefit from professional care from these three facilities through a proactive approach employing numerous preventive interventions, chronic illness management, and promotion of self-care. Pilar Mayor Tyron Christopher Beroña expressed his gratitude for the construction of the three health stations, saying "these three health stations will definitely be of great help to our constituents in the municipality of Pilar.” "These health stations are an essential component of establishing a healthy community that will provide high-quality primary health care services to our most vulnerable individuals, families, and communities, including immunizations, prenatal care, monitoring of morbidity, and referral services," he said. Norlita Domen, a resident of Barangay Gapang, in an interview, recalled her experiences prior to the availability of government services. "Earlier, we had to travel five sitios away from our barangay in order to access health services that were unavailable in our community,” said Norlita. “It was extremely tough for us to go so far at our age. But, now that health stations have been established in these three barangays, the availability of health services are now guaranteed,” she added. Reynalda Tulza, a resident of Barangay Nagcanasan, shared the same experience. "Before, we had to walk all the way to Poblacion, but since our conditions have gotten better, we no longer have to. This has brought a great deal of change, especially considering the government's funding of a large number of such projects. We are really grateful that the national government is working so hard to reach all the vulnerable barangays,” Tulza said. SBDP is a hallmark program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities. The SBDP forms part of the government’s whole-of-nation approach in fighting the communist armed rebellion in the countryside. The program aims to eradicate the root causes of insurgency, poverty, and social injustice in remote communities across the country identified to have been influenced by communist ideologies.