From the Panay News (Oct 1, 2020): 130 WV VILLAGES ‘INSURGENCY-FREE’; Army: Conflict-free brgys to receive P20M (By Ruby Silubrico)
“We still need to clear more villages and will be hunting down rebels, especially in Negros Occidental,” says Major Cenon Pancito III, spokesman of the Philippines Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. PNA
ILOILO City – Almost a year after the military’s stepped-up drive against communist armed threats, 130 barangays in Western Visayas have been cleared of insurgents, according to the Philippines Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID).
These villages have been “liberated” between 2016 to 2019, said 3ID spokesman Major Cenon Pancito III.
Western Visayas is made up of 4,051 barangays.
There were also 333 communist-terrorist groups that threatened barangays, said Pancito.
Of the 333, one maintained a foothold in Aklan province, three in Antique, 37 in Capiz, 80 in Iloilo province, and 212 in Negros Occidental.
“We still need to clear more villages and will be hunting down rebels, especially in Negros Occidental. They threatened the people especially in remote areas. We will not stop tracking them down,” said the 3ID spokesperson.
According to Pancito, the communist insurgency is an “immediate” political security threat that must be resolved in the last two years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
The Army official disclosed the national government’s plan to give P20 million to each barangay that is cleared of rebels and P1.5 million to threatened-barangays.
This financial assistance is under the P16-billion “Barangay Development Program” of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC).
Under the program, barangays deemed “cleared” from insurgency will be rewarded million-worth of projects.
Each cleared barangay will be given P20 million for the construction of various infrastructures, including a concrete farm-to market road (P12 million), a school building with four classrooms (P3 million), water and sanitation systems (P2 million), national greening or forest protection program (P1.5 million), and health stations (P1.5 million).
“The government will pour in millions of pesos worth of programs and services in the pursuit of its peace agenda,” he added.
The funds will be released to municipalities where the identified barangays are located and the implementation will be supervised by the provincial governments, and the regional task forces under the NTFELCAC.
However, the proposed 2021 budget for the government’s anti-communist task force was met earlier with criticisms.
This could be categorized as discretionary funds, or “pork barrel,” said members of the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc.
According to Bayan Muna’s Rep. Carlos Zarate, the mechanism of identifying these barangays makes the funds “pork.”
According to Eufemia Cullamat, another representative of Bayan Muna, this “reward system” will drive barangays to resort to “terror tagging” in order to get the coveted funds.
The Makabayan bloc said it will push to defund NTFELCAC.
Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, who serves as NTFELCAC vice chair, rejected the bloc’s accusations.
Esperon said the projects to be bankrolled by the program will still go through the usual budget hearings and will not solely depend on the task force’s discretion.
The funds will be released to municipalities where the identified barangays are located and the implementation will be supervised by the provincial governments, and the regional task forces under the NTFELCAC, Esperon added.
Esperon also denied reports that the funds could be used to influence the 2022 elections, since the barangays identified for the program are not considered vote-rich. (With ABS-CBN News/PN)
http://www.panaynews.net/130-wv-villages-insurgency-free-army-conflict-free-brgys-to-receive-p20m/
ILOILO City – Almost a year after the military’s stepped-up drive against communist armed threats, 130 barangays in Western Visayas have been cleared of insurgents, according to the Philippines Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID).
These villages have been “liberated” between 2016 to 2019, said 3ID spokesman Major Cenon Pancito III.
Western Visayas is made up of 4,051 barangays.
There were also 333 communist-terrorist groups that threatened barangays, said Pancito.
Of the 333, one maintained a foothold in Aklan province, three in Antique, 37 in Capiz, 80 in Iloilo province, and 212 in Negros Occidental.
“We still need to clear more villages and will be hunting down rebels, especially in Negros Occidental. They threatened the people especially in remote areas. We will not stop tracking them down,” said the 3ID spokesperson.
According to Pancito, the communist insurgency is an “immediate” political security threat that must be resolved in the last two years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
The Army official disclosed the national government’s plan to give P20 million to each barangay that is cleared of rebels and P1.5 million to threatened-barangays.
This financial assistance is under the P16-billion “Barangay Development Program” of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC).
Under the program, barangays deemed “cleared” from insurgency will be rewarded million-worth of projects.
Each cleared barangay will be given P20 million for the construction of various infrastructures, including a concrete farm-to market road (P12 million), a school building with four classrooms (P3 million), water and sanitation systems (P2 million), national greening or forest protection program (P1.5 million), and health stations (P1.5 million).
“The government will pour in millions of pesos worth of programs and services in the pursuit of its peace agenda,” he added.
The funds will be released to municipalities where the identified barangays are located and the implementation will be supervised by the provincial governments, and the regional task forces under the NTFELCAC.
However, the proposed 2021 budget for the government’s anti-communist task force was met earlier with criticisms.
This could be categorized as discretionary funds, or “pork barrel,” said members of the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc.
According to Bayan Muna’s Rep. Carlos Zarate, the mechanism of identifying these barangays makes the funds “pork.”
According to Eufemia Cullamat, another representative of Bayan Muna, this “reward system” will drive barangays to resort to “terror tagging” in order to get the coveted funds.
The Makabayan bloc said it will push to defund NTFELCAC.
Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, who serves as NTFELCAC vice chair, rejected the bloc’s accusations.
Esperon said the projects to be bankrolled by the program will still go through the usual budget hearings and will not solely depend on the task force’s discretion.
The funds will be released to municipalities where the identified barangays are located and the implementation will be supervised by the provincial governments, and the regional task forces under the NTFELCAC, Esperon added.
Esperon also denied reports that the funds could be used to influence the 2022 elections, since the barangays identified for the program are not considered vote-rich. (With ABS-CBN News/PN)
http://www.panaynews.net/130-wv-villages-insurgency-free-army-conflict-free-brgys-to-receive-p20m/
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