SENATE minority leader Franklin Drilon yesterday said the government can use any unspent amount in the President’s confidential and intelligence funds as “ayuda” or financial assistance to families who will be affected when Metro Manila is placed under enhanced community quarantine from August 6 to 20.
President Duterte has ordered the Department of Budget and Management to source funds for affected Metro Manila residents once the ECQ takes effect later this week.
“For me the President’s confidential and intelligence funds can be used because what is needed now is cash aid to address hunger and joblessness. Security issues can be temporarily set aside at least for the next six months. Let us re-align budget for intelligence and confidential funds. I am sure that insurgency will decrease if only we can help the people not to experience hunger by giving financial aid,” Drilon said.
Presidential spokesman Secretary Harry Roque said affected residents of Metro Manila can expect the same amount of cash aid given to them when the region was also placed earlier under ECQ status earlier this year, which was P1,000 each individual or a maximum of P4,000 per family.
Drilon said it was lamentable that there is no readily available source of cash for the ayuda because the government poured more than P16 billion for its anti-insurgency funds through the Barangay Development Program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Drilon was among the senators who opposed the release of the amount to the NTF ELCAC since the money, he said, can be used for other needs, especially now that the world is still battling the pandemic.
“I told them that you should never put anti-insurgency ahead of other needs like cash assistance for our countrymen. The government did not listen. That’s why it is very clear that they gave more priority to this anti-insurgency program rather than the need for financial assistance,” Drilon said.
He said the P16.2 billion could have been given to around four million distressed families, with each family receiving P4,000.
He said the P16.2 billion anti-insurgency funds can no longer be recalled as they were already distributed to the more than 800 barangays nationwide which were cleared of insurgency.
