Insurgency: Defund NTF-ELCAC

Calls to defund the NTF-ELCAC are nothing new but a few Senators have sounded the bell once again after Parlade and Badoy linked community pantries with the CPP-NPA.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/4/22/senators-push-to-defund-ntf-elcac.html

Senators are pushing to defund the national anti-communist task force next year following its alleged red-tagging of community pantry organizers.

In an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source on Thursday, Sen. Richard Gordon described the profiling and red-tagging activities of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict as "imbecilic, stupid, and shameful."

"They have no right to do that. People are doing their business in peace. They are not violating the law. Why should they bother with this? Dapat magfocus sila sa iba (They should focus on other matters)," Gordon said.

"Bakit sila nagfo-focus dito sa mga taong tumutulong sa kapwa at nagpapakita ng bayanihan sa ating bayan? I think it’s imbecilic, it’s stupid and shameful," he added.

Gordon also shared the sentiments of his colleagues, including Senator Joel Villanueva, who recently said in a tweet that the government should stop allocating public funds to the NTF-ELCAC and should just “reallocate the current ₱19 billion budget” for financial aid.

The NTF-ELCAC was given a ₱19-billion budget this year despite criticisms on the agency’s intensified red-tagging activities. Bulk of this will be spent to implement infrastructure projects and support barangays that were cleared of insurgency threats.

P19 billion is quite a lot of money. As the article says the bulk of the funds will go to build infrastructure projects in areas that have been cleared of the insurgency. That is why some LGU officials are against a move like defunding the NTF-ELCAC.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138501

Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang said defunding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) would be a big disservice to the barangays which fought long and hard to clear their communities of communist influence.

“We appeal to those who are calling to defund the ELCAC to open their hearts and minds to the plea of our people," Dayanghirang said in a statement in response to several lawmakers' call for the realignment of NTF ELCAC PHP19 billion budget to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) efforts.

The Barangay Development Program (BDP), he said, will sustain the peace in communities already cleared from the Communist influence through development projects and programs that will ultimately improve the lives of the people in these hinterland barangays."

The BDP,  a hallmark program of NTF ELCAC with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities, has identified 822 barangays nationwide that were former guerilla fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Of the PHP19 billion total budget of the NTF-ELCAC, PHP16.5 billion is allotted for the development of 822 barangays cleared of insurgency.

Each recipient barangay would receive PHP20 million for the following: 1-kilometer farm-to-market road worth PHP12 million; classrooms (PHP3 million); water and sanitation systems (PHP2 million); health station (PHP1.5 million); and livelihood projects (PHP1.5 million).

Dayanghirang said it is "sensible to finish what was started, to deliver the last stroke, to give what our people truly deserve an insurgency-free community.”

He does not say exactly how he or any other LGU official fought long and hard to clear their area of communist influence. The bulk of real fighting has been done by the AFP. It is a fact that the AFP has been unsuccessful in eradicating the CPP-NPA which is why the insurgency has lasted for 52 years. Why are the people being punished for the AFP's inefficiency? There should be constant development throughout the nation and NPA presence should have no bearing on that except on how to secure projects from being destroyed. 

What makes this whole situation even more head scratching is that some claim that development will help end the insurgency. So why not keep developing the nation's infrastructure in far-flung places?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138568

The call of the lawmakers to defund the country’s anti-insurgency task force would “undo” the gains of the government’s campaign against the decades-old insurgency, a regional development and security official said on Thursday.

“The Filipino people deserve our continuing effort towards social justice and inclusive development. The call to defund the NTF-ELCAC would be a blow to the huge portion of the budget for barangay programs, now being implemented by local government units,” Energy Secretary and concurrent Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) of Region IV-B (Mimaropa) Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.

Cusi said the NTF-ELCAC ’s mission is to support the country’s shared goal of ending the decades-long thievery, mass murder, terrorism and economic sabotage being done by the communist terrorist group (CTG).

“Communism and the continuing armed conflict that their ideology espouses has hurt the people and this nation for so long. We cannot stand at the sidelines and watch as young people, and our indigenous countrymen are lured into this culture of violence,” he said.

He said the NTF- ELCAC has been providing the means to demystify and debunk the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) that have victimized the poor and misinformed the people.

“The government is serious in battling the communist insurgency problem which is the biggest peace spoiler in the country,” he said. “The NTF-ELCAC offers a holistic approach that would resolve conflicts deeply rooted in poverty and boosts the delivery of social services in remote areas.”

Cusi said livelihood projects of the government through the NTF-ELCA’s BDP are being funneled in identified conflict areas with the aim of uplifting the lives of the recipients.

Again, if "Filipino people deserve our continuing effort towards social justice and inclusive development" then one has to wonder why this development has not been ongoing and has strings attached. The strings are that the area has to be cleared of CPP-NPA influence but that is the job of the AFP.

Perhaps the craziest reason to not defund the NTF-ELCAC is not because Filipinos deserve these programs but ex-NPA deserve these programs.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1137993

A former member of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) has described some lawmakers’ move to defund or realign the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) funds as an act of treason.

“From our point of view as former rebels and to those victims of communist deception and exploitation, defunding NTF-ELCAC is an act of treason to the people,” said Joy James Saguino alias 'Ka Amihan',  who served as secretary of Guerilla Front 20 under Sub-regional Committee 1 of the New People’s Army’s Southern Mindanao Region.

“Ka Amihan”, in a recent press conference here, said he is puzzled by the proposal to realign NTF ELCAC’s Barangay Development Program (BDP) budget of PHP16.5 billion for the development of 822 barangays cleared of insurgency.

“Bakit natin i-de-deprive ng isang kaunlarang programa na deserve nila (Why would we defund it? Why would we deprive a development program they [NPA surrenderers] deserve?) For how many years?,” he added.

Why do NPA surrenderers deserve anything but justice for the many crimes they have committed? Some of the people have killed soldiers, burned equipment, extorted politicians and businesses, and have committed many other crimes. But with the NTF-ELCAC and the E-CLIP program they will never be held accountable for these crimes. That is the problem here that no one, including these contrarian Senators calling for the NTF-ELCAC's defunding, is talking about.

While this ex-NPA member says defunding the NTF-ELCAC will be a detriment to ex-rebels Bato says defunding it will benefit terrorists.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138218

Communist terrorist groups are the only ones that will benefit from the threat of defunding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Tuesday rejected calls for a zero-budget NTF-ELCAC in 2022 and to re-allocate its current funds for other purposes.

"A huge portion of the NTF-ELCAC's budget goes to the development of barangays cleared of insurgencies. Now if the government will retract this promised development when the people there have been waiting for it, what will likely happen? If that's the case, the people will consider to support the New People's Army (NPA) again. The communist terrorists will benefit," he said in a statement in Filipino.

His reasoning is that if the barangays are not developed then the people will support the NPA. Why would this be so? What is the foundation of this reasoning? He does not say. He simply states it as a fact. But the fact is if development is so crucial to defeating the CPP-NPA then the government should be developing these areas sans any requirement to be rid of CPP-NPA influence. That is the job of the AFP. 

One LGU official says NTF-ELCAC funded projects have actually resulted in the surrender of many rebels.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138643

The Regional Development Council in the Ilocos Region (RDC-1) has attested that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) funded projects and programs boosted the anti-insurgency efforts in the region.

Vigan City Mayor Juan Carlo Medina, Ilocos RDC chairperson, said with the whole of nation approach to end armed conflict institutionalized through Executive Order 70, the armed communist terrorist fronts in the region particularly in Ilocos Sur province, have been dismantled.

“We hope that in next quarter or two quarters, Ilocos Sur will be insurgency-free,” he said during a forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency in Ilocos Region on Thursday afternoon here.

Medina said because of these projects, insurgency in the province was curbed and more rebels have surrendered.

“In 2020, 18 former rebels surrendered and given assistance worth PHP1.1 million including reintegration activities and livelihood projects. In the first quarter of this year, 11 former rebels surrendered and were given assistance worth PHP400,000,” he said.

He added that 30 projects have been accomplished in the region in 2020 through the different national government agencies.

“There were infrastructure projects, farm to market roads, irrigation systems, training, and support, that have helped the region especially Ilocos Sur,” Medina said.

Two villages in Ilocos Sur province have also received projects this year under the Barangay Development Program (BDP).

“The projects include school buildings, farm to market roads, farmers’ livestock trading, technical-vocational training, assistance to indigent residents, and the other barangay also got a barangay health center,” he said.

Medina reiterated the need for these projects to reach residents in far-flung barangays.

“Through NTF-ELCAC, these services from education to economic through the roads and farmers reach the residents,” he said.

With or without the NTF-ELCAC developing the country is important. If such projects cause rebels to surrender that is a good thing but not the most important thing. The most important consideration is the law abiding people. The people pay taxes and they deserve to see a return on that money via roads, schools, and other valuable infrastructure projects. So why doesn't the government just do it? Duterte's promise of Build, Build, Build should not be limited to populated areas like Manila. It is way past time for the Philippines to fully enter the modern age.