Dela Rosa grateful for the restoration of the P10-billion NTF-ELCAC budget

SENATOR Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa has expressed his gratitude to the Bicameral Conference Committee (bicam) for the restoration of the P10-billion budget of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

During the plenary session on Monday, Dela Rosa, one of the vice chairpersons of the Senate Committee on Finance, thanked Senator Sonny Angara, the chairperson of the Senate Finance committee, for the restoration of the NTF -ELCAC budget in the 2023 national appropriations.

"I just would like to manifest my gratitude to the members of the bicameral conference committee, particularly our Chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Angara, for his effort in restoring back the original amount that was requested by the executive branch of government, the original amount of P10 billion for the NTF-ELCAC for the Barangay Development Program. I would like to manifest, Mr. President, that in behalf of the people of the hinterlands who [have] just been liberated from the clutches of the New People's Army, thank you for that effort, to our good chairman," Dela Rosa said.

The Support to the Barangay Development Program of the NTF-ELCAC Fund under the General Appropriations Act is intended to be used for 959 cleared barangays as certified by the NTF-ELCAC. Each cleared barangay shall be allocated with an amount to be used for the following projects: (i) farm-to-market roads; (ii) school building; (iii) water and sanitation system; (iv) health stations; and (v) electrification.

In his response, Angara thanked back Dela Rosa for the kind remarks and for reminding him of the importance of the whole-of-nation approach in the anti-insurgency program of the government under the NTF-ELCAC.

"Mr. President, I'd like to thank our distinguished Vice Chairperson from Davao Del Sur and thank him for his kind remarks. But, actually, I want to give him the credit kasi siya 'yung nagpaalala sa akin nu'ng bicam na dapat ibalik 'yung halaga ng NTF-ELCAC sapagka't kabisadong-kabisado niya po 'yung anti-insurgency na mga programa ng gobyerno at 'yung kahalagahan po nu'ng whole-of-nation government approach na nakapaloob du'n sa NTF-ELCAC. Kasama rin po si Senator, Vice Chair Go at saka si Sen. Robinhood Padilla sa mga nagtulak nito. Salamat po, Mr. President," Angara said.

In the reconciled version of the 2023 General Appropriations Act ratified on Monday, the P10-billion approved budget allocation for Support to the Barangay Development Program of the NTF-ELCAC is P6,336,000,000 under programmed funds while P3,664,000,000 is lodged in the unprogrammed funds.