Esperon hits CPP over claims vs NTF-ELCAC dev't programs

From Abs-CBN (Jan 31, 2021): Esperon hits CPP over claims vs NTF-ELCAC dev't programs (By ERWIN COLCOL)

National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon Jr. on Sunday hit back at the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) for claiming that the barangay development programs (BDP) of the government’s anti-communist task force are mere “band-aid” solutions to cover up the “roots of peasant unrest in the countryside."

In a statement, Esperon described the CPP's assertions, as released by its information officer Marco Valbuena, as merely an "act of desperation" on the part of the left-wing organization.

Contrary to Valbuena's claims, he said the BDP is the flagship program of the Duterte administration to end the local communist armed conflict by addressing the root causes of insurgency.

The funding for the BDP is part of the budget allocation for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for 2021.

"I wish to emphatically state that the projects under the BDP were conceived through multi-sectoral consultations with threatened/affected communities in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs)," Esperon said.

"The selection of barangay recipients and their corresponding programs and projects had undergone stringent vetting from national agencies. The grassroots-level needs assessment ensures that the recipients of the package of development initiatives are endowed access to basic services essential for a dignified and comfortable life," he added.

Esperon also belied Valbuena's claims that under the BDP, P20 million will be distributed among 215 barangays, which is supposedly equivalent to P93,000 each.

“What will the NTF-ELCAC's P20 million bring to 215 barangays (which if distributed equally amounts to P93,000 each)? Practically nothing. Just think, each barangay will get a health center worth P6,976? Or P13,953 for a school building?” Valbuena said in his earlier statement.

But Esperon corrected Valbuena and said that the P20 million is to be given to each barangay cleared of the threat and influence of the New People's Army from 2016 to 2019.

He said that a total of 822 barangays will be receiving the P20 million BDP assistance, not 215 as Valbuena claimed. This means that a total P16.44 billion will be allotted for the programs and projects to be implemented under the BDP, he added.

"It would be ridiculous to assume, in his words, that 'each barangay will get a health center worth P6,976... or P13,953 for a school building.' The entire machinery of the government’s checks and balances was exhausted in the review and approval process of this Program, from the Congressional Hearings to the Department of Budget and Management," Esperon said.

"No competent disbursement authority will allow such an unbelievably small amount such as P6,976 for a health center or P13,953 for a school building," he added.

Esperon likewise slammed Valbuena for claiming that the NTF-ELCAC is undermining "civilian supremacy" by taking over the functions of civilian agencies through its barangay development projects.

"It might interest Mr. Valbuena to know that contrary to his statement, it is the civilian agencies that shall be implementing the Barangay Development Program as they have been involved in the NTF-ELCAC from the beginning," he said.

"Through the partnership of civilian agencies and private-sector organizations, needs-based programs are to be provided to identified communities. In the fulfillment of the Whole-Of-Nation Approach, private-public sector partnership is the foundation of nation-building as espoused through the NTF-ELCAC’s goals," he added.

Esperon advised Valbuena and the CPP to not stand in the way of grassroots developments if they cared for social justice, progress, and equality.

"Intindihin niyo muna nang mabuti ang BDP bago kayo magpuna," he said.

The House Makabayan Bloc had criticized the NTF-ELCAC's P16.4 billion budget for the BDP during the 2021 budget deliberations.

ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro surmised that the huge allocation could only be used as "pork barrel" for the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Malacañang defended the proposed budget of the task force, saying that it is a “valid expenditure.”

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/773989/esperon-hits-cpp-over-claims-vs-ntf-elcac-dev-t-programs/story/