Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 26) ─ The Duterte administration is hoping to secure a bigger budget for the national anti-communist task force, a move which a lawmaker criticized as misplaced priority amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
During the House hearing on the proposed ₱5.024-trillion national budget for 2022, Budget Undersecretary Rolando Toledo said the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) will have a funding of ₱30.46 billion. The current budget is ₱19.33 billion
A big portion of that amount, or ₱28.12 billion, will finance the Barangay Development Program, and the rest will go to the programs of the departments of Interior and Local Government, Agrarian Reform, and Social Welfare and Development.
Budget Officer-in-Charge Tina Rose Marie Canda explained the higher budget will cover 1,406 barangays from the current 822 barangays.
Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas expressed dismay over the proposed budget as it was “not a direct response” to the pandemic.
Brosas said there should be more spending for the health care system and Filipinos affected by the crisis.
“Dapat tanggalin ang pondo sa NTF-ECLAC (The NTF-ECLAC should be defunded),” she said.
The Palace earlier this week defended its request for a bigger budget to end communism, saying that rebellion and terrorism will remain a threat during the pandemic.
“If they find that it is more appropriate to realign funds from NTF-ELCAC to more priority programs, then we will abide by the changes that the legislature would do on the national budget for 2022,” Canda told lawmakers.
