Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 14) — The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo says she will curb terrorism in the country with a whole-of-government approach if she secures the presidency in 2022.
“Ang posisyon ni VP Leni, una kaklaruhin ko, importante ang patuloy na laban natin sa terorismo,” OVP spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said on DZXL RMN’s Biserbisyong LENI program on Sunday. “Pero ang kailangan nating approach ‘yung whole-of-government approach.”
[Translation: VP Leni’s position, I would like to clarify, is that she wants to stress the importance of continuing the fight against terrorism. But the approach we need is a whole-of-government approach.]
Gutierrez said that the government’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) even created more enemies even if it was meant to suppress insurgency.
He also noted that Robredo’s stand to abolish NTF-ELCAC does not mean that she supports terrorism. The Vice President, in fact, would like to collaborate with other government agencies and civil society to further address the issue.
“Ako nadidismaya ako sa posisyon na dahil pinuna ang NTF-ELCAC, hindi na siya kontra sa terorismo. Kalokohan ‘yun,” he said.
[Translation: I am dismayed by the position that criticizing NTF-ELCAC meant she was not against terrorism. That’s foolish.]
The Senate committee on finance slashed ₱24 billion from the proposed 2022 budget of NTF-ELCAC last week. The task force’s budget is now down to ₱4 billion after some senators pointed out the need to realign the rest of the budget to the government’s COVID-19 response.
