Pressure mounts for Angara to restore BDP budget

PRESSURE is mounting on Senate Finance Committee chair, Sen. Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara, to restore the P28.1 billion budget of the Barangay Development Program (BDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that has proved effective in hastening the collapse of many terrorist bases of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the return to mainstream society of increasing number of its supporters and local leaders.

In his first media briefing on November 16, 2021 as presidential spokesman, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles called on Angara and the Senate to restore the BDP’s budget.

“Kami po ay nanawagan din po sa Senado na i-reconsider po nila ‘yang desisyon nila,” Nograles said. “Tandaan po natin itong mga LGUs na ‘to ay mga far-flung, geographically isolated, disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) at pinag-uusapan natin dito ang mga kababayan natin na matagal na pong umaasa dito sa mga proyektong ito,” he added.

A day before, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary, Eduardo M. Año, along with the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), have called on Angara for the restoration of the BDP budget.

Last week, Sambayanan, the umbrella group of all former cadres, leaders and members of the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) comprising more than 850 organizations, released an open letter to Angara advocating the same call.

“The Support to the Barangay Development Program (SBDP) is a game-changer in our battle to end communist terrorism in the country.

“Unti-unti nang nararamdaman ng mga naninirahan sa mga barangay na sakop ng SBDP ngayong taon ang tunay na kahulugan ng pagbabago at pagkalinga ng gobyerno na hindi nila naramdaman sa nakaraan dahil sa mga Komunistang Terorista,” said Año, a bemedaled former Armed Forces chief who had direct experience in combatting the national security threat posed by the CPP-NPA while in active military service.

“We must remember that the battle against the CTGs (communist terrorist groups) is not just a battle of arms, it’s also a battle for the hearts and minds of our people,” he stressed.

Much earlier, the LPP, headed by Marinduque governor and former Supreme Court associate justice, Presbitero Velasco, passed Resolution 2021-009 during its 8^th General Assembly last September 20, 2021, reminding the Senate of the LPP’s support for the NTF-ELCAC and urged the chamber to approve, in full, the budget for the SBDP for next year.

“The full and continued implementation of the BDP needs to be pursued in order to bring about and sustain progress and development in these identified conflict-affected barangays that urgently need government support and assistance,” said Velasco.

Año said the proposed projects under the SBDP that were identified by the community residents themselves, “represent their collective aspiration towards genuine peace and development.”

Siding with the terrorists?

In media interviews last November 9, 2021, the day he announced that the  BDP budget would be cut from P28.1 billion to a meager P4.11 billion, Angara said some of his “colleagues” even wanted the NTF-ELCAC to be abolished or defunded.

While Angara did not name who among his colleagues want the task force abolished, it is already an established fact that only the Liberal Party (LP) bloc in the chamber—Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Sen. Leila de Lima, Sen. Risa Hontiveros and Sen. Francis Pangilinan—want the NTF-ELCAC and all its programs abolished or defunded.

The LP has long been the political ally of the CPP, dating back before martial law. Their alliance remained despite the CPP already being designated as a terrorist organization by the Philippine government and other countries abroad, including the United States and the European Union.

Although not a member of the LP, Angara has proven himself to be under the spell of Drilon. In 2019, Angara conspired with Drilon to defund the forensic laboratory of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) for 2020 but their conspiracy was foiled after their congressional insertion was vetoed by Pres. Duterte.

The LP has long been the political ally of the CPP, dating back before martial law. Their alliance remained despite the CPP already being designated as a terrorist organization by the Philippine government and other countries abroad, including the United States and the European Union.

Angara’s excuses also merely repeated the propaganda line of the CPP’s representatives in Congress under the Makabayan Bloc.

Angara also claimed the task force remains unable to account for the expenses involving the P16.4 billion given to the BDP for this year targeting some 822 barangays that are former bastions of the CPP-NPA, claiming that for this year, only 26 out of the 2,318 projects under the BDP have been completed.

Angara’s remark was despite the fact that the status of all BDP projects and expenses are readily available at the website and social media account of the NTF-ELCAC.

And according to Sec. Año, the low completion rate is not sufficient argument to further hobble the BDP.

“(The) P16.44-billion development projects under the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) this year are in full swing in the 822 insurgency-cleared barangays with several projects already completed and others in different phases of implementation,” Año said.

Of the 2,318 SBDP projects funded this year, 19 are already completed, 557 are undergoing implementation, 783 are under procurement, and 959 are under pre-procurement.

“Based on the current status of SBDP projects, we are expecting that majority of them will be completed by the first quarter of 2022 with some spill-over projects to be completed by the second quarter,” he said.

Año also reminded Angara that completing the documentary requirements for identified project was even more challenging nowadays with the stringent Covid-19 restrictions.

Another four to five months is likewise needed to complete the procurement process in compliance with the Republic Act (RA) 9184.

He added that the actual implementation of the SBDP projects on the ground takes about one to four months to complete depending on the nature of the project, with non-infra projects usually completed faster than infra projects like roads and buildings.

“Mahigit 50 taon nang naghihirap at napag-iwanan ang ating mga kababayan na nakatira sa mga bulubundukin at malalayong lugar na dati ay pinamumugaran ng mga communist terrorist groups (CTGs).

“Nakikiusap po tayo sa ating mga senador na huwag ipagkait ang pagkakataong maramdaman nila ang pagmamalasakit ng gobyerno at malasap ang tunay pagbabago,” Año argued.