None of 885 NTF-ELCAC barangay projects in 2024 finished

MANILA, Philippines — With four months left in 2024, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has yet to complete any of its 885 barangay development projects that were funded this year, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

During Wednesday's budget deliberations at the House of Representatives, DILG Undersecretary Marlo Iringan said the funds for the projects had just been released by the Department of Budget and Management. 

"That's why [local government units] are still in the process of procuring the projects," Iringan told the House appropriations panel during its hearing on the proposed budget for the DILG in 2025.

Iringan's statement came after Rep. Raoul Manuel (Kabataan Partylist) asked the DILG about the latest status of NTF-ELCAC's implementation of its flagship program for impoverished barangays.

Under the 2024 General Appropriations Act, the barangay development program was allotted P2.6 billion, which translates to P2.5 million per qualified barangay.

In the proposed 2025 budget, the government is seeking to hike this amount to P7.8 billion. 

Manuel said delays in the implementation of the program should lead to the eventual defunding of the task force, which Makabayan bloc lawmakers have long called to abolish.

"In this case, it's already August, and there are just four whole months remaining for the year.  If this continues, it won’t be the first time NTF-ELCAC has been this slow in utilizing its funds," the lawmaker said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Manuel said it took about two years for the program's budget in 2021 to reach a 96% obligation rate. 

"So if this is the current rate, how much of the funds will be used and by when? Will we reach 2027?" the lawmaker said.

Manuel said the continued funding of the task force and its barangay-level programs is "unacceptable" as the issue has already cropped up in past budget hearings.

"I strongly insist that we defund NTF-ELCAC, including its barangay development projects, and redirect those funds directly to national agencies working on education, health, and other social services," he added.