THE Bicameral Conference Committee of the two branches of Congress has finally reached a compromise on the budget next year of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF) and its centerpiece, Barangay Development Program (BDP).
Based on the compromise, the task force shall be given a total budget of P17.1 billion, which is P11 billion lower than its requested budget of P28.1 billion but far better than the P4.11 billion budget originally proposed by Senate Finance Committee chair, Sen. Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara and other pro-communist lawmakers from the opposition headed by the Liberal Party.
The approved budget is also a little higher than the P16.4 billion budget for the NTF-ELCAC and the BDP this year. However, it is seen as sufficient to provide government intervention for the development needs of about half of the targeted beneficiary-communities in the original budget proposal.
In the original proposal of P28.1 billion, 1,406 former strongholds of the terrorist communist groups under the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) spread over 324 municipalities, 29 cities, and 58 provinces in 15 regions nationwide, are expected to benefit from the BDP next year.
They are on top of the 822 villages who have already benefited from the BDP based on the task force’s current budget.
The budget compromise is also seen as another “triumph” for pro-democracy groups in the country and another defeat for pro-CPP elements in Congress.
Angara had a hard time justifying his original proposal to essentially “castrate” the NTF-ELCAC based on arguments first floated by the CPP and its political allies since the House contingent, headed by Committee on Appropriations chair, Rep. Eric Go Yap and House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, approved, in toto, the budget proposal of the task force.
The League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), as well as other local government units, BDP beneficiaries as well as former cadres and leaders of the CPP-NPA, had also threatened to wage a “zero-vote” campaign against senators who sided with Angara in reducing the NTF-ELCAC budget to just P4.11 billion.
Also, in a speech in Zamboanga City last December 3, 2021, Pres. Duterte criticized the senators for reducing the NTF-ELCAC/BDP budget as he also urged Filipinos not to vote candidates who had sided with Angara and the LP headed by Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.
The BiCam wrapped up its final session on Wednesday, December 15, 2021 and the final version of the P5.024 trillion budget for next year is expected to be forwarded to Malacañang for the signature of Pres. Duterte, also this week.