Realign budget of PNP, other agencies to fund Robredo’s anti-drug plans — solon
MANILA, Philippines — Portions of the budget allotted for the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other agencies under the 2020 spending plan should be realigned to the office of Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo, Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman said Tuesday.
The opposition lawmaker said modest allocations should be given to Robredo’s office to support her initiatives to recalibrate the Duterte administration’s brutal drug war.
Robredo was recently appointed co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) and is now expected to lead the government’s crackdown on illegal drugs.
Lagman said ICAD member-agencies like the Philippine National Police PNP, Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Justice, and Department of the Interior and Local Government should have their anti-illegal drug budgets realigned to support the anti-drug initiatives of the Vice President.
“These fresh funds can be used by the Vice President in re-charting the course of the anti-narcotics drive to non-violent policies like community-based drug rehabilitation and poverty alleviation programs,” the congressman said in a statement.
The reallocation of funds will also enhance data gathering and evidence-based approach in documenting the actual cases of the narcotics trade and drug use, according to Lagman.
No less than Leni Robredo admitted over the weekend that the P15 million budget of the ICAD was not enough to fuel her plans as the new anti-drug czar. Pro-administration Senator Ronald dela Rosa then criticized this, telling her to work first before asking for funds.
READ: Dela Rosa to Robredo: Make do with what resources you have
The proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020 is currently being deliberated by the Senate after the House of Representatives approved it in September. The 2020 General Appropriations Bill can still be amended as long as it’s not yet ratified by both chambers of Congress. /je
