Lawmakers seek to probe NTF-ELCAC budget

Some lawmakers in both houses of Congress filed resolutions on Monday to conduct inquiries that would scrutinize the budget of the government's anti-insurgency task force budget and performance, following its alleged red-tagging of community pantry organizers.

Senators Joel Villanueva, Nancy Binay, Sherwin Gatchalian, Grace Poe and Ralph Recto filed Senate Resolution No. 07, which seeks to "conduct a review, in aid of legislation, of the performance of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)...with a view to determining whether NTF- ELCAC is effective in fulfilling its mandate and efficient in its budget utilization."

The five senators also said there is a need to review whether the P19.1 billion allocated funds under the 2021 budget for NTF-ELCAC should be used instead for pandemic efforts.

Under the resolution, senators were also compelled to investigate after NTF-ELCAC spokesman Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade likened the rise of community pantries to Satan's apple.

Parlade denied that they are linking community pantries to communist rebels but admitted that they are checking the background of the pantry initiators. 

In a statement, Villanueva said the resolution was to also hold NTF-ELCAC officials accountable for their "baseless red tagging of community pantries  and certain individuals."

"It is our responsibility as legislators to ensure that government programs do not harm the people we serve. Thank you and God bless," the senator said.

For their part, Makabayan Bloc in the House of Representatives filed House Resolution 1728 directing the House Committee on Public Accounts to conduct an inquiry to scrutinizing the NTF-ELCAC's budget, which is much higher than the P2.5 billion allocated for the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in this year's national budget.

The Makabayan Bloc also said the task force's P19-billion budget is also "roughly four times" of the Department of Trade and Industry's P5.6 billion budget for small and medium scale enterprises assistance. The NTF-ELCAC's budget is also 21 times higher than the Vice President's budget of P900 million.

Under the House resolution, the lawmakers also questioned the Department of Budget and Management's release of Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) worth P9,659,500 from March 24,2021 to April 23,2021 for the implementation of priority projects under NTF-ELCAC's barangay development program.

"Whereas project details corresponding to each SARO for NTF-ELCAC are inaccessible in the DBM website," read the resolution.

At least three senators previously called for the defunding of NTF-ELCAC over the claims that community pantry initiators have links to communist rebel groups, while Senators Franklin Drilon and Francis Pangilinan separately called for the censure of Parlade.

But National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon defended the task force funds, saying they are released to local government units for their barangay development programs. He said that the BDP is provided for former guerilla bases of the New People’s Army. — BM, GMA News