President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial anti-insurgency task force — the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) — received at least P29.2 billion in the 2022 proposed national budget.
The task force's budget increased from less than P20 billion in the 2021 budget despite heavy scrutiny of its red-tagging activities from politicians and from the Commission on Audit.
The bulk of NTF-Elcac’s budget (P28.12 billion) was allocated under the Support to the Barangay Development Program (SBDP), a traditional item in the national budget but which was previously under the control of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Since last year’s budget, the item turned into an incentive for barangays that NTF-Elcac declared “clear” of communist insurgency.
These barangays are entitled to each receive up to P20 million, which may be used to fund the following: farm-to-market roads, school buildings, water and sanitation systems, health stations, electrification, agricultural, livelihood and technical vocational training or projects, and assistance to indigent individuals or families.
Another P1.08 billion was allocated to the NTF-Elcac through the DILG. Sources of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said they will continue to scrutinize the budget to see if there are other items allocated to the task force.
Critics said the actual budget of the NTF-Elcac may be higher than the amount allocated under the NEP. They cited COA’s findings of “highly questionable” fund transfers amounting to P160 million from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, for example.
The Department of Budget and Management on Monday, August 23, submitted the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to the House of Representatives, where all appropriations must exclusively originate under the constitution.
DBM proposed a P5.024-trillion budget for 2022, an election year. The submission of the NEP kicks off the budget season.
Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Carlos Zarate said the anti-insurgency task force’s budget — which he described as “the generals’ pork barrel” — will “very clearly” be used for the coming 2022 polls.
“In this time of crisis, aggravated by the pandemic, why will you allocate more to not even a regular agency? This is very anomalous, to say the least,” Zarate told the PCIJ.
Bayan Muna belongs to the progressive Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, which was tagged by the NTF-Elcac as “legal fronts” of the Communist Party of the Philippines. The task force filed disqualification cases against Makabayan members with the Commission on Elections.
Opposition senators also vowed to block NTF-Elcac’s funding. Senator Franklin Drilon agreed with Zarate’s proposal that NTF-Elcac’s budget should be used to fund the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic instead.
“I will oppose it,” said Drilon. “The [Support for the Barangay Development Program] budget should be reallocated to ayuda and other related budget responses to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he told the PCIJ. END
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