Senators Franklin Drilon and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa traded words on Sunday over the P24-billion cut from the proposed 2022 budget of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC).
In a dzBB interview, Dela Rosa insisted that the NTF-ELCAC’s Support to the Barangay Development Program (SBDP) is not a “baril and bala” [gun and bullet] path, but a social approach to help the communities freed from insurgency recover.
“Tutol talaga ako dahil napakagandang na programa niyan. Bakit mo puputulan ng pondo nang ang rason lang naman is hindi naka-submit on time ang NTF-ELCAC ng list of projects at pag..about the projects, pero naka-submit naman sila,” Dela Rosa said.
(I’m against the budget cut because the good project is good. Why would they slash the budget if the lone reason is that NTF-ELCAC wasn’t able to submit the list of projects on time?)
On November 9, the Senate Finance Committee slashed the anti-communist insurgency task force’s P28-billion proposed budget for next year to P4 billion to realign the rest to health-related programs, including the funding of the government’s COVID-19 response.
Dela Rosa argued that the insurgency in the country would be resolved if the Senate would not slash NTF-ELCAC’s funds for the barangay development programs, saying that communities might return to their old habits that make them vulnerable against the communist insurgency.
“Hindi nila ibibigay ‘yan, lalong gugulo ‘yan dahil ang mga tao, naghihintay ng wala. Sabihin ng mga tao, ‘P*t*ng*n* ng gobyeryong na ito, walang kwenta. Promise ng promise, hindi naman mai-deliver.’ Sino matutuwa ngayon? ‘Yung mga NPA dahil babalik ngayon ‘yung mga masa sa NPA,” he pointed out.
(If they would cut the budget, it would be more chaotic as the people were waiting for nothing. They would say the government is worthless for making promises that if couldn’t deliver. Who would be happy then? The NPA because the people will return to them.)
In response, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said there are a lot of agencies that could help with the development programs for the affected barangays, including the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Public Works and Highways.
“Hindi ko po maintindihan na ang sinasabi ay para bagang kung wala ang pondong ito, ay wala nang pondo na makakarating sa mga barangay. Hindi po totoo ‘yan, nakakalat sa iba’t ibang ahensiya ng pamahalaan ‘yung mga tulong sa mga barangay,” Drilon said.
(I don’t understand why they are saying that if the NTF-ELCAC budget is slashed, the barangays would be deprived of some needed funds. That’s not true, the help for the barangays are scattered in different government agencies.)
Asked about what he thinks on calls to abolish the NTF-ELCAC instead of just defunding it, Dela Rosa said, “Sabihin ko sa kanila, ito pangit pakinggan eh pero buwisit sila!” (This sounds disgusting, but they are nuisance.)
“I-abolish kung kailan naging successful ‘yung ahensya sa paglaban sa terorismo, paglaban sa insurhensya, i-abolish nila? Ano, puro pamumulitika na lang talaga ang iniisip nila? Na porke nasa oposisyon sila, gusto nila hindi maging successful itong administrasyong Duterte sa paglaban ng problema ng ating bansa. Ganun na lang talaga ang utak nila? Ay buwisit,” he said.
(They want to abolish the NTF-ELCAC when the agency has been successful in fighting terrorist and insurgency? Do they only think about politics? And being in the opposition they only want that the Duterte administration would fail in fighting the problems of the country. What a nuisance.)
Vice President Leni Robredo earlier expressed that she is in favor of the abolition of NTF-ELCAC due to duplication of duty. She said she fears that this would be “Tokhang Version 2” wherein the mandate given to the body will be “abused and used to harass people.”
Drilon explained that the budget cut was decided because NTF-ELCAC cannot properly disclose as to how the current budget was being spent. This would also help in the country’s COVID-19 response, noting that the budget for it is still under the unprogrammed funds.
“Kaya siguro may portion doon ng 24 billion na binawas ni Senator Anggara, inilagay doon sa pondo para sa bakuna para po sigurado ang pambayad natin sa bakuna, hindi po manggagaling sa utang. Kaya po hindi ‘buwisit’ ito, hindi pulitika. Ito ay pag-aalaga ng pera ng taong bayan,” he said.
(Senator Anggara slashed the 24 billion budget to help fund the vaccination program so that it will not come out of debt. This is not ‘buwisit’ or an annoyance, and not about politics. This is about taking care of the people’s money.)
Earlier, it was revealed that only 26 out of the 2,318 projects under the NTF-ELCAC’s barangay development fund have been completed. According to Senate committee chairman Senator Sonny Angara, over 700 of these projects are still in the procurement stage, while some 560 are ongoing.
Pressed on why the NTF-ELCAC has only accomplished a few of the projects, Dela Rosa asked the Senate to be more considerate as it is only November and it is not that easy to implement all of the projects.
“Kung ganoon ang reasoning natin, edi lahat ng ahensiya siguro ‘wag na bigyan ng pondo. Klaro naman na ‘yun ang kumpleto pero ‘yung iba naman ay nasa different stages of implementation,” he said.
(If that is this is the case, then maybe we should not fund other agencies as well. It is clear that those are the completed projects, but the others are in different stages of implementation.)
On the other hand, Drilon took a swipe at the Duterte administration, saying that these funds might be even used for PDP-Laban’s campaign for the upcoming elections, which Dela Rosa denied.
Bayan Muna representative Carlos Isagani Zarate backed Drilon, saying that this a “pork barrel” of the president for dispensing 20 million per barangay during election season in the guise of counter-insurgency.
“Sa panahong ang pangunahin problema natin ay ang pandemya, sinasabi namin na pwede talagang i-defund na ‘yung pondo na ‘yan at dalhin ‘yan sa pangunahing pangangailangan ng mamamayan para matugunan itong pandemya,” Zarate said.
(At this time of crisis, we want to defund NTF-ELCAC and realign the budget instead to the needs of the public and help solve the pandemic.) —LBG, GMA News
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