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Women's Partylist questions proposed P10B budget allocation for NTF-ELCAC's barangay dev't program
Women's Partylist questions proposed P10B budget allocation for NTF-ELCAC's barangay dev't program
Gabriela Women’s Partylist slammed the proposed P10 billion fund allocation for the controversial National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) under the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), reiterating that they will not allow “ghost items” in the 2023 budget.
Quoting Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, the women’s partylist disclosed that the list of projects for NTF-ELCAC’s barangay development program is “not yet complete.”
“Nauna pa ang proposed budget kaysa sa listahan ng mga proyekto. Hindi biro ang halagang ito. This is four times the allocation for housing projects in the 2023 budget (The proposed budget was released before the list of projects. This amount is no joke. This is four times the allocation for housing projects in the 2023 budget) ,” said Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas.
The allocation for housing projects in the 2023 national budget was P2.5 billion, while the proposed budget for NTF-ELCAC’s Barangay Development Program was P10 billion.
Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Brosas then reiterated that they will not allow “ghost items” in the 2023 budget.
NTF-ELCAC, under Executive Order No. 70, was established on Dec. 4, 2018 in hopes of attaining “inclusive and sustainable peace” in the country by addressing the “root causes of insurgencies, internal disturbance, and other armed conflicts.”
The task force, however, became controversial with its policies that “exacerbate roots of armed conflicts” as well as its “attacks against anyone perceived critical to the government,” as pointed out by human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares in 2021.
Budget fight for PH classrooms, hospitals, housing
Apart from grilling the proposed budget for NTF-ELCAC, the lawmaker likewise slammed the P429 billion fund for road networks.
In the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget, at least 22.7 percent or P1.196 trillion will be allocated for infrastructure programs. This, according to the women’s partylist, is a huge amount of budget as compared with the P.25 billion for housing and P13.9 billion for the repair and construction of classrooms.
“Mumong-mumo ang alokasyon sa mga ito kung ikukumpara sa P429 bilyon para sa pagtatayo ng samu't saring kalsada. Pondo para sa mga klasrum, pabahay at ospital, dagdagan! (This budget allocation, as compared to the P429 billion for the construction of roads, is smidgen. Funds for classrooms, housing, and hospitals should be increased),” said the women’s partylist.