CALOOCAN CITY, May 5 (PIA) -- Defense Undersecretary Reynaldo Mapagu, chairperson of Task Force Balik-Loob, E-CLIP, and the NTF-ELCAC's Amnesty Program Cluster, on Monday said defunding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) will “jeopardize the progress" the country has "made over the past years” against communist terrorist groups (CTGs) and their various fronts.
"Defunding the task force and the programs it facilitates will jeopardize the progress we have made over the past years, especially the barangay development program for our communities, as well as our localized reintegration program for our former rebels, among other programs and services being implemented under the task force. It must be pointed out that under Local Budget Circular No. 135, dated January 20, 2021, the funds for the barangay development program shall be released directly to the provincial government where the community beneficiaries are located," Mapagu said in a statement sent to the PIA-NCR.
“It will also validate the propaganda of the CTG (communist terrorist groups) that the government has forsaken these communities,” he added.
Mapagu said defunding the task force will "ultimately negate our whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach that have empowered our various government agencies, local government units, civil society and all our other stakeholders."
P19.1 billion in the 2021 budget has been allocated to the task force for prorams and projects geared toward nation building.
“Instead of defunding, we must all rally behind the NTF-ELCAC so that our peace and development efforts will continue to be sustained. The peace dividends we are planting today will ultimately benefit our whole nation and the future generation of Filipinos,” the official explained.
"Without this convergence, the onus of defeating and addressing the communist insurgency will rely once more on the security sector. We all know that the security sector alone cannot address the issue. It needs the participation of all stakeholders – exactly what the NTF-ELCAC is doing," he added.
Mapagu said the NTF-ELCAC is an "unprecedented effort" advanced by no less than the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte himself.
He added that it is "being implemented by the people, for the people, and supported by the people, the synergy to achieve our common goal is at the crux of what the NTF-ELCAC does – to finally end the local communist armed conflict."
"This is why instead of defunding, we must all rally behind the NTF-ELCAC so that our peace and development efforts will continue to be sustained. The peace dividends we are planting today will ultimately benefit our whole nation and the future generation of Filipinos," he further said. (PIA NCR)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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