Drilon backs proposal to realign anti-insurgency funds to disaster response

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday agreed with the proposal to realign the P19-billion anti-insurgency fund lodged under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflicts (NTF-ELCAC) to disaster response, especially in areas devastated by recent typhoons.

“We need to rebuild thousands of houses damaged by typhoons. We need all the funds we can get to assist our people pleading for help and help them get back on their feet,” Drilon said in a statement.

He underscored that the government would not be able to achieve it with only P4 billion earmarked for the housing sector in the 2021 budget.

In Albay alone, super typhoon Rolly left 6,000 residents homeless.

“We need to augment the budget for housing. The P19 billion in anti-insurgency funds can be transferred for disaster relief and rehabilitation programs instead, including for construction of houses and temporary shelters,” Drilon said.

He added that this move would also assuage speculations that the multi-billion anti-insurgency fund would be used "in aid of the 2022 elections."

Drilon's colleague in the minority bloc, Senator Risa Hontiveros, has made the said pitch to realign a portion of the said anti-insurgency fund to response and rehabilitation efforts.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said the proposed P19-billion fund under NTF-ELCAC is justifiable as he believes that this is aligned with President Rodrigo Duterte's directive to the security sector to end the half-century-old problem of insurgency in the country.

Lacson, nonetheless, said he would push for higher funds to assist typhoon-hit local government units under the 2021 national budget.—LDF, GMA News