ACT Teachers partylist Rep. France Castro has urged her colleagues to “defund” the P1.8 billion allocated for the Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s P13.5 billion budget for 2021.
The Makabayan lawmaker said the TESDA should not be given such funding following its failure to submit its report on the implementation of its action programs in connection with the implementation of the Executive Order No. 70, which was signed by President Duterte in 2018 in a move to put an end to the local communist armed conflict.
“I move to defund the budget of TESDA on EO 70, dahil hanggang ngayon, 2018, 2019, 2020 report about this ay hindi pa nasa-submit, ipinangako po 'yan last briefing,” Castro said during the House’s recent plenary deliberations on the TESDA’s budget for next year. (I move to defund the budget of TESDA on EO 70, because until now, the 2018, 2019, 2020 reports about this have yet to be submitted. It was promised at the last briefing.)
TESDA heads the PRLEC of the NTF-ELCAC.
Castro said she has been asking for the report on the status of the EO implementation for “more than a week.”
Makati City 2nd District Rep. Luis Campos Jr., vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, defended the TESDA’s budget for the implementation of EO No. 70, which seeks to institute a "whole of government" approach in addressing communist insurgency.
“Itong budget for EO 70, ito po siguro ang simula na ng lunas para sa ating dinadaanan na armed conflict dahil ang kailangan ng taong bayan natin ay pag-angat ng estado ng kanilang pamumuhay,” he said. (This budget for EO 70, this may be the start of the solution to the armed conflict we are experiencing because the people need to uplift the standard of their living.)
He said the P1.8 billion allocation will be used for the training programs, a bulk of which will be tapped by the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors. The breakdown of the allocation is as follows: 40.7 percent for agriculture forestry and fisheries, 21.48 percent for construction, 25.9 percent for manufacturing, 6.72 percent for tourism, and 5.9 percent for logistics and other sectors.
He explained that the TESDA's participation "is purely skills training and the downloading of skills training to target beneficiaries.”
“Under the overall umbrella of the National Task Force, PRLEC is shared by TESDA because its primary goals are really to alleviate poverty incidence and mitigate its effects in citizenry, and uplift the standard of living through upscaling and training,” Campos said.
“Kung pinaninindigan po ng ating sponsor na malaki ang naitutulong nito, nasaan po ang report?,” Castro asked. (If our sponsor is sure that this helps, where’s the report?)
“Paano natin na masasabi na nakakatulong ito sa marginalized sectors?,” she asked. (How can we say that this is helping the marginalized sectors?)
Campos relayed to the House plenary that there was "no output" during 2018 because such initiative was not appropriated. In 2019, the program was not funded, but TESDA used its training programs to facilitate it.
He added that for this year, there are 1, 734 program enrollees, 408 of whom already graduated. He said of the number who graduated, 54 were already employed.
To convince Castro, Campos said there are documented success stories, such as in Masbate where 24 former rebels were trained in various qualifications and are now employed by the Philippine Army, three of whom became enlisted personnel receiving a monthly compensation of P29,000.
He noted that some former rebels are engaged in operating side street food business, laundry services, and construction, earning an average of P3,000 per month.