SENATE minority leader Franklin Drilon yesterday urged members of Congress to “trim” the proposed P5.042-trillion national budget and cut unnecessary items, such as Malacañang’s anti-insurgency fund, to ease the impact of the government’s mounting debt and expanding budget deficit.
Drilon particularly wants to cut the proposed P28.1-billion anti-insurgency fund under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), saying that the allocation can be diverted to social services which are more important amid the COVID-19 health crisis.
“We can remove this item or channel the funds to ‘ayuda.’ Given our limited resources, we must prioritize ayuda over NTF-ELCAC. We must cut funding for the security sector in favor of the social services,” Drilon said.
He said Congress can also either cut or realign the government’s confidential and intelligence funds “worth billions of pesos” to save money.
“We must trim the bloated spending for the security sector next year so we can ease the impact of the mounting debt and deficit on our national coffers,” he added.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the inclusion of a P4.5 billion intelligence and confidential fund, as well as the P28.1 billion NTF ELCAC allocation in the proposed 2022 budget are necessary to improve the peace and order situation and support the country’s poverty alleviation program.
Roque said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, government efforts to improve peace and order as well as solve poverty — which he said is the root cause of insurgency in the country — are still being addressed.
“Even if there’s a pandemic, we know that hunger is the reason for uprising. These projects will provide jobs to the poor who have been forced to become rebels,” Roque said.
He added that addressing poverty, as well as the need for food and jobs, is also a step towards recovering from the pandemic.
Roque also assured the public, including critics and detractors of the government, that the NTF-ELCAC budget will not be used for election purposes.
He also denied the allegation of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives that NTF-ELCAC has been receiving millions of pesos through illegal fund transfer from various agencies such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
