Vice President Leni Robredo, if she wins the presidential race in Eleksyon 2022, would not misuse the funds for the government’s anti-insurgency program, former Senator Antonio Trillanes said Sunday.
Trillanes made the remark as he acknowledged that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC’s) Barangay Development Program helped in countering the insurgency in communities.
“Lahat ng programa ng gobyerno pag pinasa ninyo sa papel niyan magada ang hangarin, yung objectives. Pero nasa implementasyon at nasa level ng corruption ng administrasyon ultimately… So ang nagiging kontrobersya dito it’s not really yung programa,”said Trillanes, a retired navy officer.
(All of our government programs, if it is on paper, the objective is good. But it all depends on the implementation and the level of corruption in the administration.)
“Kasi kapag titignan ninyo NTF-ELCAC, yung development program sa barangay level, maganda talaga. To be fair, may mga barangay na naayos talaga so malaking tulong yun sa mga efforts ng [Armed Forces of the Philippines],” he added.
(If you look at the NTF-ELCAC, the BDP is good. Some villages were reformed and it was a big help to the AFP.)
He pointed out that if Robredo wins, there would be no corruption in the anti-insurgency program.
“Pero ang inaano ko, kagaya ni VP Leni, kapag nasa kanya na kung ano pang counter insurgency program, medyo komportable ka na hindi pupunta sa bulsa ng ilan,” he said.
(Once Leni handles the counter-insurgency program, we will be comfortable that the funds would not go to the wrong hands.)
Trillanes is seeking reelection in 2022 and is also part of Robredo’s senatorial slate.
Red-tagging
Despite praising the NTF-ELCAC program, Trillanes said he rejected the “witch-hunting” and “red-tagging” efforts of task force members against innocent individuals.
“Nasira itong reputation ng NTF-ELCAC dahil sa iilang personalities, yung na nag-subject sa witch-hunting, yung red-tagging na ito. Ang kinakatakutan ng mamamayan na iyong mga inosente na matuturo kang komunista ka na hindi naman, eh ikukulong ka o papatayin ka kaagad. So ‘yun ang dangers dun,” said the former senator.
(The NTF-ELCAC’s reputation was ruined because of personalities who resorted to witch-hunting, red-tagging. And innocent people are being falsely tagged as communists, who will be killed or detained. That is the danger there.)
Robredo had said she supported the mandate and functions of the NTF-ELCAC even as she previously called for its abolition.
Opposition groups including former Bayan Muna Chairperson Neri Colmenares found Robredo’s statement “worrisome,” adding that the task force has policies that harass and attack left-leaning critics of the administration.
During the Senate plenary debates on the 2022 proposed budget, only 26 out of 2,318 projects of the barangay development fund of the NTF-ELCAC were completed.
The Senate committee on finance had slashed the NTF-ELCAC budget from P28 billion to P4 billion.
Despite this, the upper chamber allocated P10.8 billion for the NTF-ELCAC’s budget for next year after Senator Ronald dela Rosa, sponsor of NTF-ELCAC budget, appealed to raise the amount.
Medical exams, drug test
On the other hand, Trillanes pushed for medical exams for presidential bets, not just drug tests.
He also demanded that the drug test should be random to make sure the results were not manipulated.
“Alam ninyo ‘yung drug test, hindi lang ‘yun magsusubmit ka ng sample. Kailangan ‘yan in public and in random talagang makikita nila na kukuhanan ka ng sample at yun ang gagamitin na pang drug test,” he said.
(Drug tests should not be just submitting a sample. It should be done in public and at random so that the public will see you undergoing the test.)
Robredo previously pushed for random drug tests for presidentiables amid President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement against a presidential aspirant who he said was using cocaine. — DVM, GMA News
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