Unspent money with PNP shows NTF-ELCAC needs no new funding, senator saysMANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police's low spending of the anti-insurgency funds it received in 2020 as a member of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is proof that it was excessive to give P19.2 billion to the task force this year, a senator said Friday. Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the PNP, has since assured the public that the money is intact, and will be used "wisely" in remote areas where communist rebels operate. "We have more than sufficient funds to counter insurgency, millions of which remained untouched, unobligated and unspent," he added. Drilon also sounded the alarm in May over what he called the hurried release of P10.68 billion in funds to the task force out of its total P19 billion budget for 2021. Joel Villanueva, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan in April called for the realignment of the NTF-ELCAC's entire 2022 budget to the government's pandemic response.

Source: Philippine Star July 16, 2021 09:03 UTC