Hiniling ni Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon sa pamunuan ng Senado na pagsumitehin ng ulat ang National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) ukol sa paggamit ng kanilang P19 bilyong ‘anti-insurgency fund.’
Nangangamba si Drilon na ang pondo ay maaring magamit sa 2022 elections.
“Under the present General Appropriations Act, the NTF-ELCAC is supposed to submit a quarterly report to the Senate and the House of Representatives on the utilization of the funds. I will request the Senate leadership to require NTC-ELCAC to submit the quarterly report. These are not small funds. Magagamit sa pulitika iyan,” sabi ni Drilon.
Ayon pa sa senador, hindi na mababawi pa ang naibigay ng pondo sa NTF-ELCAC ngayon taon, ngunit maari ito magamit para sa mga programa ng gobyerno na may kaugnayan sa kasalukuyang pandemya.
“Insofar as the funding is concerned, the defunding cannot happen now. It can be defunded when we craft the 2022 budget. However, the President has the full authority to realign the funds. In fact, the present GAA includes as among the projects that fund would be COVID-19 vaccination,” aniya.
Kasabay nito, muling pinagsabihan ni Drilon si NTF-ELCAC spokesman, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., na magbitiw na sa puwesto dahil aniya ipinagbabawal sa Konstitusyon ang paghawak ng civilian position ng isang aktibong sundalo.