by Kristel Ogsimer

PUBLIC PRESSURE is mounting on the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) to fully disclose to the public how it is using its multi-billion budget, following reports of the agency’s “questionable” fund releases and spending.

In House Resolution (HR) 1728 filed by six lawmakers from Bayan Muna, Gabriela, ACT Teachers, and Kabataan – or the Makabayan bloc, they called on the Committee on Public Accounts to conduct an inquiry into the “questionable” Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) worth P9.66 billion for the NTF-ELCAC.

SAROs are documents that authorize an identified agency to incur obligations or spend public funds for a specific period for specific purposes.

HR 1728 noted that details of several SAROs approved and released by the Department of Budget and Management between March 24 and April 23 this year for the NTF-ELCAC’s Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) – Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) is not available to the public, as it is inaccessible in the DBM website.

“It is the right of the people to know how such amounts are being spent by the NTF-ELCAC, especially amid the grave and debilitating impacts of the pandemic and the economic recession,” the resolution read.

This development came mere days after NTF-ELCAC Spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. and Lorraine Badoy caused a public uproar, as both went on a “red-tagging spree” against organizers of community pantries that sprouted all over the country.

‘Duplicate, dubious spending’

The anti-insurgency body has a P19 billion budget for 2021, P16.44 billion of which is allocated to LSGF-SBDP’s development projects for 822 barangays labeled as “cleared of communist rebels.”

According to the Makabayan solons, these projects – which include “farm-to-market roads, water, and sanitation system, and housing” – are “duplicate and dubious” as most, if not all, of these projects are already being undertaken by other national government agencies.

The timing of the approval of the SAROs also raises questions, Makabayan solons noted. On April 23 – as public calls to defund NTF-ELCAC were mounting – DBM approved SAROs for the said agency totaling P3.85 billion.

HR 1728 also noted that the NTF-ELCAC released P2.6 billion of its budget to several agencies without a clear project breakdown.

The Makabayan bloc stressed that the budget allotted to the NTF-ELCAC is several times bigger than the P2.5 billion budget allotted for the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program, which they say is a clear manifestation of the national government’s mishandling of the pandemic response.

“NTF-ELCAC’s P19-billion budget must be rechanneled to urgent programs such as sufficient emergency cash aid for poor and low-income families,” the lawmakers said in the resolution.

Aside from the Makabayan Bloc, Deputy Speaker Bienvenido Abante Jr. also filed HR No. 1726 seeking to reallocate the anti-communist taskforce’s barangay development program budget. Meanwhile in the Senate, five lawmakers filed Resolution No. 7 seeking to review the performance of the NTF-ELCAC. Senators Nancy Binay, Sherwin Gatchalian, Grace Poe, Ralph Recto, and Joel Villanueva also want to investigate if the P19.1 billion NTF-ELCAC funds should be allocated for pandemic efforts instead.