DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday dismissed as “misplaced” the call of Vice President and presidential candidate Leni Robredo to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Lorenzana urged Robredo to seek a dialogue with the task force, which is chaired by President Duterte, so she can be “enlightened” on the mission of the body.
“The proposal by VP Robredo to abolish NTF-ELCAC because it could be used like ‘Tokhang’ is misplaced,” said Lorenzana in reaction to Robredo’s statement on Tuesday that agency should be abolished because the insurgency problem cannot be solved by “purely militaristic approach.”
Robredo had expressed concern that the task force will become “Tokhang version 2,” referring to the PNP’s ‘Oplan Tokhang’ which is blamed for abuses in the war against illegal drugs.
She added the long-term solution to the decades-old insurgency conflict is to address the root cause of the problem.
“The NTF has been implementing its mandate for the past two years and we have not received any complaints from the target barangays,” said Lorenzana, adding that the task force “is already implementing a whole-of-nation approach to address the root causes of insurgency.”
“VP Robredo may consider inviting the NTF-ELCAC for a dialogue so she can be enlightened on the inter-agency body’s mission,” he said.
At the same time, Lorenzana criticized the Senate Finance Committee decision to slash by P24 billion the proposed 2022 budget of the NTF-ELCAC, which the government has set at P28 billion.
“The move by the Senate Finance Committee to cut the Barangay Development Program (BDP) budget by P24 billion shows their lack of appreciation of the plight of our folks in the remote barangays,” he said.
The BDP program calls for the construction of infrastructure projects in barangays that have been cleared of communist rebels. Officials have said these projects to prevent the rebels from regaining foothold in these areas.
“Their act was supposed to punish the NTF, but in effect they are punishing the poor people who would have benefitted from the infrastructure and social services projects under the BDP. The previous BDP funds were all disbursed through the LGUs (local government units),” he said.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said only 26 out of the 2,318 barangay development projects of the NTF ELCAC have been completed as of this month.
Angara said the information was contained in the letter sent by the task force to detail its expenditure of its P19 billion budget this year.
According to its letter, the 2,318 NTF-ELCAC projects were funded with P16.4 billion under the BDP, which awards P20 million each to more than 800 barangays nationwide to sustain the government gains after they were cleared of insurgents. The allocation is intended to be used for development projects such as school buildings, potable water source, livelihood, among others. — With Raymond Africa
