PNP spent P766 million of NTF-ELCAC funds for 13 million 'meetings, activities'

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday was surprised after it was revealed that the Philippine National Police's 2021 budget for anti-insurgency efforts was allocated for 13 million activities.

In the budget deliberations of the proposed 2022 budget, Drilon asked how the P1.194 billion National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) funds in the Department of the Interior and Local Government was utilized.

Senate finance committee chair Sonny Angara, quoting DILG officials, said the DILG was able to use the budget to send teams to 21,406 local government units for meetings and convergence in an effort to clear barangays of insurgency.

Of the P1.194 billion, 70% or P766 million were obligated, Angara also said.

Upon hearing this, Drilon again asked how the billions of NTF-ELCAC funds were used by the DILG.

"There was no infrastructure involved in this amount. There were meetings, convergence. Are we telling these chambers that we spent P1.1 billion for this?" Drilon said.

Angara then revealed that the huge chunk of the budget was used by PNP, the attached agency of DILG.

"As for the PNP, the bigger item of a billion, they spent P766 million or 70% of their appropriations and the following were 13 million activities," said Angara.

Citing data handed to him by PNP, Angara said the nation's police force had 12 clusters which performed different activities such as counter mobilization activities, focused law enforcement operations, neutralized communist group members, and retooled community support activities, among others.

"Every month under different clusters they have 10,000 activities," Angara further pointed out.

Drilon said this was the first time he heard of million activities in his over 20 years in the Senate. 

"Dalawampu't apat na taon na po ako sa Senado, ngayon ko lang narinig ang report na may ginastusan na [13] million activities," he said.

(I've been serving the Senate for 24 years and this is the first that I've heard of a report that there are 13 million activities.)

"No wonder the COA (Commission on Audit) has flagged the expenses or the budget is being disbursed. Thirteen million activities in a span of 10 months," he added.

The Senate minority leader further asked that the budget must be "examined closely" as conducting 43,333 activities per day for the last 10 months is "difficult to believe."

"We want to request the chairman to take a good look at this allocation. P1.1 billion? It is bigger than the budget presented here in the Senate," he said.

In the proposed 2022  national budget, the Senate finance panel slashed the NTF-ELCAC budget to P4 billion from P28 billion. —LDF, GMA News