Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said he is against defunding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) despite criticisms over its red-tagging activities.
Go warned that the move to discontinue the allocation of funds to NTF-ELCAC could derail the government’s anti-insurgency campaign, which is already gaining ground.
“Hindi po ako sang-ayon dyan dahil maantala ang ating kampanya, itong anti-insurgency campaign natin, (I’m not in favor of that proposal because it will derail our campaign, our anti-insurgency campaign),” Go said during an ambush interview in Palo, Leyte.
Go said the campaign has already made significant progress and defunding it will overturn whatever gains the government has already committed.
The senator said the task force was established to ensure non-violent methods to defeat rebellion and insurgency in the country.
“Maganda na po ang umpisa ng kampanya laban sa insurgency. Hindi po ako sang-ayon na sa kalagitnaan ng kampanya ay puputulin. Nandyan na po ‘yan sa (2021) budget. Maganda na ang takbo, ang intensyon po ng ELCAC, (the campaign against insurgency had a great kick-off. I’m against stopping it in the middle of the campaign. The funds are already in the budget. The ongoing program and the intention of the NTF-ELCAC is good),” the senator added.
Under the 2021 national budget, P19-billion was allocated to the NTF-ELCAC to fund development projects of 822 barangays throughout the country that have already been cleared of insurgencies.
Of the budget, P16-billion has been allocated for the Support to Barangay Development Program of the agency.
“Ang pondo para sa ELCAC, hindi para makipagpatayan. Ang pondo na ito ay tulong sa mga barangay para hikayatin sila na may maitulong sila sa komunidad nila, (The funds for ELCAC is not for violence. These funds come as aid to communities to encourage them to help their own community),” Go explained.
“So, kung makakatulong ito sa pag-unlad ng bayan, ‘di po ako sang-ayon na putulin po ito dahil maganda na po ang takbo ng kampanya (So, if this will develop our nation, I oppose to stop this because the campaign is going well),” he said.
“Sa susunod na taon po, ibang usapan na po iyon kasi meron na po silang (Next year’s budget is another issue, because they already have an) existing budget right now that only the President ang makapagtanggal d’yan (can remove),” he added.
Go said he fully supports the police and the military in their campaign against insurgency in the country, and particularly voiced his support for Army Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, spokesperson of the NFT-ELCAC.
“Maaring may na-offend na kapwa ko senador. Siguro, pwede natin itong pag-usapan. ‘Wag na lang palakihin dahil ‘di ito ang panahon na mag-away-away dahil nasa kalagitnaan pa tayo ng problema, (He must have offended some of my fellow senators. Maybe, we can talk about this. I hope we don’t have to make a big issue out of it because we are already in the middle of a huge problem during this time),” he said.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III has earlier vowed to convince other senators to retain the funds of the NTF-ELCAC.
Aside from Go, senators who voiced their opposition to defund the NTF-ELCAC include Sotto and Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who called the proposal a “wrong move.”
Sotto, however, supported the appeal of senators to censure Parlade over his “stupid” remarks against members of the Senate.
“People don’t know that the officials of NTF-ELCAC have nothing to do with the funds. It goes straight to the local government units. That’s why I said, remove the talkative but not the program. Why blame the program for loose talks)?” Sotto said.