DILG, governors appeal to restore P24-billion slashed from NTF-ELCAC budget

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) appealed to the Senate on Monday to restore the P24 billion slashed from the proposed 2022 budget of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said that in the fight against terrorists, removing the budget for the Support to the Barangay Development Program (SBDP) or the so-called insurgents-free communities would send a “wrong signal” to local government units (LGUs) that expect development projects next year.

“The SBDP is a game-changer in our battle to end communist terrorism in the country. Unti-unti nang nararamdaman ng mga naninirahan sa mga barangay na sakop ng SBDP ngayong taon ang tunay na kahulugan ng pagbabago at pagkalinga ng gobyerno na hindi nila naramdaman sa nakaraan dahil sa mga komunistang terorista,”  Año said.

(The residents of the barangays covered by the SBDP this year are gradually feeling the true meaning of change and care by the government which they did not feel in the past because of the terrorists.)

“We must remember that the battle against the communist terrorist groups (CTGs) is not just a battle of arms, it’s also a battle for the hearts and minds of our people,” he added.

The Senate finance committee has earlier slashed the anti-insurgency task force’s budget from P28 billion to just P4 billion to divert the fund to the healthcare workers’ COVID-19 benefits.

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 implementation.

At least P16.44-billion development projects are under the SBDP this year and are implemented in the 822 insurgency-cleared barangays. According to Año, the majority of these will be completed by the first quarter of 2022 while others in the second quarter.

He said that cutting the proposed NTF-ELCAC budget next year will “deprive remote barangays of development and will make them vulnerable once more to the CTGs.”

“Nakikiusap po tayo sa ating mga senador na huwag ipagkait ang pagkakataong maramdaman nila ang pagmamalasakit ng gobyerno at malasap ang tunay pagbabago,” Año said.

(We ask our senators not to deprive them of the chance to feel the government’s concern and enjoy real change.)

The LPP backed the DILG and urged the Senate to completely approve the SBDP budget in 2022.

“The full and continued implementation of the BDP needs to be pursued in order to bring about and sustain progress and development in these identified conflict-affected barangays that urgently need government support and assistance,” LPP president and Marinduque governor Presbiterio Velasco, Jr. said. —Giselle Ombay/LDF, GMA News

DILG, governors appeal to restore P24-billion slashed from NTF-ELCAC budget
Source: Filipino Viral News PH