Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go leads the prayer before the start of the hybrid plenary sessions Wednesday, November 10, 2021. (File photo/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Christopher “Bong” Go remains firm on his position in support of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), particularly its budget for fiscal year 2022, to enable the body to continue to discharge its mandate effectively and help restore peace in areas plagued by conflict.
His appeal comes after moves to reduce the NTF-Elcac’s budget from P28.12 billion to only P4 billion. The lawmaker had previously voiced his opposition to the cut, highlighting the need to ensure the continued provision of humanitarian assistance to conflict-affected populations.
“We have the longest-running communist insurgency in Asia. And in our quest to find that elusive lasting peace in the countryside, we need a whole-of-government approach to solve poverty and lack of education, and to address government neglect,” said Go, who is Vice-Chair of the Finance committee.
“Napakalaki ng papel ng NTF-Elcac sa hangarin nating magkaroon ng pangmatagalang kapayapaan, lalo na sa mga kapos sa buhay at nasa malalayong komunidad sa bansa. Kung kaya’t kamakailan ay tumutol ako sa pagtapyas ng budget nito. Hindi natin hahayaang masasayang ang mga nasimulang programang pangkapayaan ng Administrasyong Duterte,” he continued.
Go underscored the effectiveness of the whole-of-nation approach employed by the Task Force in addressing the root causes of the insurgency and attaining inclusive peace and development in the affected areas.
He referenced the NTF-Elcac’s Basic Services Cluster which has 190 completed and 141 ongoing housing projects for indigenous peoples in Davao del Norte and Cagayan de Oro City, in partnership with the National Housing Authority since 2016. It has provided for the construction of 9,691 last-mile schools of the Department of Education and seen to the closure of the Salugpungan Schools in the Davao Region from 2019 to 2021.
Moreover, the cluster has assisted in the establishment of 8,244 Barangay Health Stations for the Department of Health and electrification of 40 sitios by the National Electrification Administration.
The task force, under its Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Program, also provided 710 barangays with skills training with 1,576 interventions from such agencies as DepEd and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and 194 barangays with livelihood training with 268 interventions.
It has likewise awarded 253 Certificate of Ancestral Domain Titles for 5.8 million hectares of land to 1.3 million IP Rights Holders and 51,797 Certificate of Land Ownership Awards from 2018 to 2021. In addition, the Infrastructure Development program has constructed a total of 25,245 kilometers of bridges and 99,070 kilometers of roads from 2018 to 2020.
Finally, the Local Government Empowerment Program has gotten a total of 1,715 local government units to denounce the communist terror groups, 84% or 1,436 of which have also approved a resolution declaring CTGs as personas non grata in their respective localities as of July 2021.
“Imbes na bawasan, dagdagan pa dapat natin ang pondo ng NTF-Elcac para mas maengganyo natin ang mas maraming Pilipinong magbalik-loob sa lipunan at mamuhay ng normal kasama ang kanilang pamilya,” continued Go.
“Bigyan natin ng prayoridad ang suporta ng gobyerno para sa libreng edukasyon, pangkalusugan, pabahay, trabaho at pangkabuhayan na nakatutok sa mga lugar at mamamayan na nangangailangan dito. Kailangan natin ng mas maayos na mga pasilidad at serbisyong tunay na may malasakit sa kapwa,” he appealed.
On this note, the senator reminded his fellow lawmakers that the insurgency has largely been caused by past administrations’ neglect which has resulted in poverty and political exclusion. He plans to help ensure the continuity of the government’s efforts to address these issues, for the sake of future generations of Filipinos born in these places.
“Kahit noong Mayor pa lang ng Davao City si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, kasa-kasama na niya ako sa pagsundo sa kabundukan ng prisoners of war ng New People’s Army. Doon ko personal na nasaksihan na kahirapan at kapabayaan ng gobyerno ang madalas na dahilan kung bakit nagrerebelde ang ilan nating mga kababayan,” shared Go.
“Kung may namamatay, ang pinakakawawa dito ay ang mga inosenteng bata na nawalan ng mga magulang at kapatid dahil sa magkaibang paniniwala. Masakit makitang nagpapatayan ang Pilipino sa kapwa Pilipino,” he ended.
In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 70 which created the NTF-Elcac. The order also institutionalized a whole-of-nation approach to attaining inclusive and sustainable peace and directed the adoption of a National Peace Framework which provides for the harmonized and synchronized delivery of services in conflict-affected and vulnerable areas.