AT least three senators yesterday sought the defunding of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) over the statements of its spokesman, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., against the organizer of the Maginhawa community pantry in Quezon City.
In a tweet posted on Wednesday night, Sen. Joel Villanueva said he found Parlade’s comparing Ana Patricia Non to the devil unbecoming of an officer. Non is the community pantry organizer of the Maginhawa pantry.
“Oh my! We should move to defund NTF-ELCAC in the next budget hearing. Sayang lang ang pera ng taong bayan. Reallocate the current P19-B budget for ayuda, mas kailangan ito ng taong bayan kaysa sa ganitong kalokohan! (The people’s money is just being put to waste. Reallocate the current P19-B budget for financial assistance [to low-income families]. The people need financial help, not this kind of foolishness),” Villanueva said.
Villanueva was referring to Parlade’s comment in an interview with One News’ The Chiefs on Tuesday, where he likened Non to the devil who deceived Eve into giving Adam the fruit of the poisonous apple tree.
“Si Satan binigyan ng apple ni Eve, doon lang nagsimula ‘yun (Satan gave an apple to Eve, and that started it all),” Parlade said in the interview.
Early this week, Non temporarily closed her community pantry a few days after starting it after authorities linked her and her volunteers to the communists. Non posted screenshots that showed the NTF-ELCAC shared posts saying that community pantries were used for propaganda of the communists.
Several senators hit the NTF-ELCAC for such move.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian backed Villanueva’s proposal when he responded to the tweet of the latter. “I agree bro. If these are the kind of people who will spend hard earned taxpayer’s money, then it’s not worth it,” Gatchalian said.
Villanueva replied: “Yes, let’s do it brother.”
Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon said they need not wait for the annual budget deliberations, which regularly starts August, to propose the defunding of the NTF-ELCAC since its budget can be realigned by President Duterte.
“For the past weeks, I have been urging the President to realign the anti-insurgency budget to fund the budgeted ‘ayuda’(assistance) to the poor. I am glad that my colleagues joined me in that call. But we do not have to wait for the 2022 budget debates to defund NTF-ELCAC. The President should realign the NTF-ELCAC under the 2021 GAA now,” Drilon said, as he maintained that its budget “was clearly lump sum pork barrel of Malacañang disguised as anti-insurgency funds.”
Sen. Nancy Binay, in a TV interview Wednesday night, said it is “high-time” that the budget of the NTF-ELCAC be reviewed since the problem that government has to confront these days is the pandemic, not insurgency.
“I will really make sure that we’ll be addressing the budget of the NTF-ELCAC. Maybe, it’s high-time that we really review their budget,” Binay said.
Minority senators have been questioning the P19-billion budget earmarked by Malacañang in the 2021 General Appropriations Act to NTF-ELCAC since the money, they said, can be spent for the government’s pandemic response.
Bulk of the task force’s budget or P16.4 billion, is given to sustain the efforts of barangays already cleared of communist rebels. The rest of the budget is for operational expenses.
Moves to either cut or divert the budget was shot down when Congress convened into a bicameral conference committee during the 2021 budget deliberations.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III did not buy the idea of defunding the NTF-ELCAC but he suggested that its officials involved in red-tagging individuals be replaced.
“I believe the NTF ELCAC program is good. Defunding it would give back the gains of government to the rebels. We should not be hasty in blaming a good program because of irresponsible statements from some officials,” Sotto said, adding: “Replace the officials instead.”
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he too was not in favor of defunding the NTF-ELCAC. “Since 2016, I have been defending the budget of the defense department and all its attached agencies.
Last year, I stubbornly fought to retain the P16.5-B anti-insurgency fund of NTF-ELCAC for 2021, arguing that it was intended for development programs, activities and projects in areas cleared of the presence of the NPA’s, and not for armed anti-insurgency operations,” Lacson said.
Instead of defunding, he said Parlade should be replaced.
“Early this year, the Senate approved in plenary my Committee’s recommendations on the red-tagging issue – including the immediate relief of Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr as spokesperson of NTF-ELCAC, not only because his civilian position is violative of the Constitution, he has in fact, on many occasions, become a ‘liability’ to the overall efforts of the government, as well as the government’s position on the pending 37 petitions against the ATA (Anti-Terrorism Act) of 2020 before the SC (Supreme Court) mainly due to his careless remarks and flawed interpretation of certain provisions of the law,” Lacson said.
“Unfortunately, the defense department has openly ignored the Senate in that regard. This year, I am not sure if I will defend their budget with the same tenacity as I did the previous years. Working together, I believe should be a two-way street, if we want to make it work.
‘STUPID’
Parlade laughed off the senators’ proposal and even called them “stupid” for making the threat.
“Meron pang pinag-uusapan ngayon, meron pang sinasabi na i-defund ang NTF-ELCAC.
Sino ba pumirma ng batas na ‘yan? Sino pumirma ng appropriations ng NTF-ELCAC, di ba mga senador? (There are talks to defund NTF-ELCAC. Who signed this law? Who signed the appropriations for ELCAC? Was it not the senators who signed it?),” Parlade said.
“Straightforward, I’ll tell you sila ang stupid kung ito’y ay binabawi nila. Pinirmahan nila ang batas na ‘yan para maging serbisyo, ipagpatuloy ang programa ng gobyerno para sa mahihirap. Ngayon sasabihin nila na ide-defund nila ‘yung NTF-ELCAC (Straightforward, I’ll tell you that they are stupid if they are recalling <the funds>. They signed the law for service, to continue the program of government for the poor. Now, they are saying they are going to defund NTF-ELCAC,” Parlade said.
He reminded senators that it was them who approved the P16 billion barangay development program that calls for the construction of projects, including farm-to-market roads, in areas affected by communist insurgency.
“Do they want to remove that? Do they really know the law that they signed? I think what the senators are saying is unfair,” he added.
Parlade said the task force is merely looking into a few community pantries, based on information of informants that the organizers have links with the communist movement.
“Why don’t you just tell the people that the government is doing its job?” said Parlade who called out the media for allegedly sensationalizing the issue.
Presidential adviser Harry Roque said calls to defund the NTF-ELCAC is “not justified,” adding the anti-insurgency group should be left alone to do its job.
Roque said the task force’s budget is being used for programs aimed at bringing progress and assisting those living in areas that have been cleared of the influence of the CPP.
“That (defunding) is not justified. Let them do their job including the officials who may be there at the community pantries,” he said.
Roque reiterated that Malacañang prefers “bayanihan not bangayan (cooperation not conflict).”
He said he and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año would talk with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana about Parlade, who is a member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines which is under the supervision of the Department of National Defense.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said organizers of community pantries who are allegedly victims of profiling can file criminal or civil cases, or even administrative cases against those supposedly doing the profiling.
“They can be sued possibly under the Data Privacy Law depending on the kind of personal data obtained without the consent of the person, and the purpose for which the data was obtained,” Guevarra said when asked what law is being violated by the alleged profiling.
He said the organizers can lodge a criminal complaint before the local prosecutors’ office or, if it is a civil complaint for injunction and damages, it can be filed directly with the courts.
“If it’s an administrative complaint, sa PNP, DILG or AFP, as the case maybe,” he added.
‘KA PATRING’
Communications undersecretary and NTF-ELCAC spokeswoman Lorraine Badoy, in a Facebook post, said Non is known as “Ka Patring” in the communist movement as she is an alleged official of the underground mass organization Artista at Manunulat ng Sambayanan (ARMAS) that seeks to overthrow of government.
Badoy said ARMAS is affiliated with the CPP.
She urged the public not to be misled and to make sure that Non makes a public accounting of the funds that she has received for the community pantry after she was able to raise more than half a million through her Facebook fundraising drive.
In the shared screenshot of an account of one “Pauline Non,” the post sought for assistance to provide support for organizers, volunteers, and advocates of community pantries in the Philippines that were set up in response to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.
It reportedly received more than $12,000 from over 200 contributors.
Badoy said apart from an accounting of the funds, the public should also make sure that funds raised really goes to the people who are in need.
AFP chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana yesterday ordered military units to support the operation of community pantries that were put up throughout the country to help people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a press briefing, Sobejana said the military establishment is also putting up funds to augment the distribution of food to less fortunate Filipinos.
“It (community pantries) is a humanitarian action which your Armed Forces, being the protector of the people, is supporting,” said Sobejana, adding that he has ordered AFP deputy chief of staff for civil military operations Maj. Gen. Benedict Arevalo “to issue a directive to all our units to organize themselves, particularly the civil military operations units, to support this kind of undertakings.” — With Victor Reyes, Jocelyn Montemayor and Ashzel Hachero
