Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 16) — The House Committee on Appropriations on Friday wrapped up its marathon budget deliberations after it terminated consideration of the ₱1.39-billion budget of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
Following the deferral of the budget hearing last week, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman defended the motion to postpone the deliberation because the NCIP was “doubling on projects outside its mandate with their meager funds.”
NCIP chairman Allan Capuyan submitted a letter to the House of Representatives and concerned lawmakers to explain the need to do other activities.
He added they submitted Republic Act 8371 or the law creating the NCIP and executive order 70 series of 2018, which identifies NCIP as part of the “whole of nation approach” to end communist armed conflict.
Capuyan said the NCIP’s activities shed light on “burning” issues in the ancestral domain, stressing that the commission needs more funds to implement 11 major activities to assist indigenous peoples in the country.
“₱1.4 billion is not enough as a budget for the ICCs/IPs (indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples). The universe of the IPs is 1,500 ancestral domain,” the NCIP chairman told lawmakers. “For the last 25 years, we found out NCIP is only able to accomplish 25% of its mandate or an average of one percent a year. As early as 2019, we proposed to the Office of the President an amount of ₱3 billion a year for the next 10 years to catch up the situation that we finish the 75% in 10 years.”
Capuyan also clarified that they have no projects allocated for anti-dissident activities.
“There is none in the budget of over ₱1.5 billion that we are undertaking in the anti-insurgency movement. It is in the whole of nation approach that these are discussed. Most of these are hosted and sponsored by the funds available to NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict),” he explained.
Capuyan said they are asking for ₱700 million in additional funds to be able to implement their activities, citing the delineation of ancestral domain as one major activity affected by the fund limitation.
Several lawmakers back the NCIP’s request for additional budget — vowing to propose amendments at the plenary debates next week. House leaders target to have the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA) approved on third and final reading by Oct. 1.
