Leaders of opposition and administration blocs in the House of Representatives are not buying the gag order imposed on spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as a way of sparing the agency from getting defunded.
Deputy Speaker and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Asst. Minority Leader and Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas want the remaining balance of the P19-billion of NTF-ELCAC re-allocated to various financial support programs for Filipinos who have continued to absorbed the economic impact of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Brosas said the gag order imposed on NTF-ELCAC spokespersons Gen. Antonio Perlade and Lorraine Badoy is not enough to stop the “dangerous red-tagging spree” that the two officials have conducted against various personalities, including community pantry organizers.
The opposition solon said the agency should be abolished and its budget realigned for emergency cash aid to Filipinos suffering from the ill-effects of the COVID 19 pandemic.
On the other hand, Abante said the government should prioritize financial assistance programs over a controversial counter-insurgency body more focused on red-tagging than its actual mandate.
In a resolution filed last week, Abante urged the House to act "to reallocate the 16 billion pesos allotted for the NTF-ELCAC’s barangay development projects to subsidy programs under the DSWD and the DOLE meant to provide financial support for unemployed Filipinos and underprivileged families." According to the resolution, "given the gravity of the problems brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in light of the inability of NTF-ELCAC to properly perform its functions, the government should prioritize efforts to provide financial assistance and other forms of support to our countrymen who have no sources of income or have limited means as a result of the pandemic." The resolution pointed out that "our country is currently in the middle of a pandemic that has claimed over 16,000 lives in the Philippines alone, with a total of close to a million COVID-19 cases tallied since January 2020 and 107,988 active cases as of 22 April 2021." Brosas warned that the P19 billion budget granted by government to the NTF-ELCAC will go down the drain because the said agency does not have a clear program except to harass and put in danger the lives of people they have been red-tagging.
She also called for the dismissal of Badoy and Parlade because they are “a seroius threat to the public.” She said the duo should also be barred from holding any public office.