Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday said around P7.54 billion of the National Task Force to End Local Communism and Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) fund was released last month as it faced backlash for its officials’ red-tagging remarks against community pantries.
Some P10.68 billion of the P19 billion total budget of the anti-insurgency council has been released as of April, Drilon claimed.
“Bakit po parang nagmadaling ilabas ang budget? Bakit yung pondo sa Marawi rehabilitation mabagal ang paglabas ng pondo? Saan po gagamitin itong P10.68 bilyon?” he said in a statement.
Drilon said in his press statement that defeating COVID-19 and addressing the effects of the pandemic such as unemployment and hunger should be top priority.
“There are 62 percent Filipino households who experienced hunger due to COVID-19 pandemic. There are 4.4 million Filipinos who lost jobs in 2020. Yet, the government is giving priority to NTF-ELCAC’s anti-insurgency program rather than use the funds to expand ayuda, buy vaccines and feed the poor.”
The Senate should look into the use of NTF-ELCAC’s funds and compel the task force to submit a report to Congress, said the senator.
“Saan po ba napunta ang P10.68 billion? Anong barangay? Anong siyudad o bayan ang nakinabang dito? In the spirit of transparency, let us publish the data and inform the public,” he said.
