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Over P1 billion earmarked for anti-communist drive in PNP's 2022 budget


A total of P1,084,433,000 funds intended for the End of Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program were included in the proposed budget of the Philippine  National Police (PNP).

Based on the 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the amount will be divided among the 17 regions in the country, with the National Capital Region getting the biggest chunk at P155 million.

The ELCAC funds will be distributed into the 17 regions as follows:

  • NCR - P155,000,000
  • Region I or Ilocos -  P60,000,000
  • Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR ) - PP50,000,000
  • Region II or Cagayan Valley - P55,000,000
  • Region III or Central Luzon - P61,433,000
  • Region IVA or CALABARZON - P62,000,000
  • Region IVB or MIMAROPA - P40,000,000
  • Region V or Bicol - P60,000,000
  • Region VI or Western Visayas - P60,000,000
  • Region VII or Central Visayas - P60,000,000
  • Region VIII or Eastern Visayas - P60,000,000
  • Region IX or Zamboanga Peninsula - P60,000,000
  • Region X or Northern Mindanao - P61,000,000
  • Region XI or Davao - P60,000,000
  • Region XII  or SOCCSKSARGEN - P60,000,000
  • Region XIII or CARAGA - P60,000,000
  • Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) - 60,000,000

For 2022, the PNP has a proposed budget of P190 billion under the NEP. Most of the funds will go to Crime Prevention and Suppression Program with over P172 billion.

The PNP gets the biggest chunk of the budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which is over P248 billion.

Also, the DILG has P25 million funds for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Insurgency program under the NEP.

Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson raised concern over the use of P800 million funds for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) allotted to the PNP.

Lacson claimed a police general had instructed his subordinates to conduct a census in different barangays using the government’s anti-insurgency funds.

He said NTF-ELCAC funds for next year should be thoroughly reviewed during budget deliberations.

The PNP denied allegations its anti-communist insurgency funds have been misused.

PNP chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar contended that the police force did not use the NTF-ELCAC funds in the conduct of census in various barangays across the country.

"The PNP is not conducting or instructing our chiefs of police to ask 30% of barangay residents to give their names, contact numbers and addresses for census. We have no use for any census," Eleazar said.

"Everything that is being done by the PNP in relation to the NTF-ELCAC funds is above board, and we welcome any investigation that may be conducted," he added.

The DILG also clarified the P2.9 million alleged fund transfer to NTF-ELCAC called out by the Makabayan bloc was  a “downloading of funds” to DILG Region XII for the implementation of anti-insurgency programs.—LDF, GMA News

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