COA flags DND over ‘low utilization’ of P14-M NTF-Elcac budgets

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Department of National Defense (DND) over the low utilization rates of the annual budgets issued to the government’s controversial anti-communist task force, which led to the return of a “significant portion” of the funds to the national treasury.

In their annual audit report on the DND for 2024, state auditors said the defense department barely used the total allotments and obligations totaling P14.34 million and P4.56 million, respectively, for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) between 2020 and 2024.

This resulted in an unused balance of P9.78 million, of which P7.64 million was returned to the national treasury — described by COA as a “significant portion of the allocated budget,” resulting in “missed opportunities to achieve the program’s objectives.”

According to COA, the low overall utilization rate was at 31.80 percent, which indicated “inefficiencies in fund administration” as well as delays or challenges in the timely execution of programs and projects.

READ: NTF-Elcac: Barangay development program has no ‘ghost’ projects

“Such low utilization hampers the intended impact of the [NTF-]Elcac initiatives of the [DND]; hence, potentially delaying the delivery of vital services and programs aimed at fostering peace in conflict-affected areas and vulnerable communities,” it said in the section for observations and recommendations in the DND annual audit report.

COA recommendation

The COA recommended, with the agreement of the DND, that the use of its allocated funds for the task force be maximized by identifying all programs and projects that would ensure alignment with its objective of “attaining inclusive and sustainable peace and ensuring that they are implemented to achieve intended impact.”

The NTF-Elcac was formed by then-President Rodrigo Duterte on Dec. 4, 2018, through Executive Order (EO) No. 70 after he scrapped the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front. At the time, Duterte tapped the DND secretary to become a member of the task force for the “effective implementation of the whole-of-nation approach for the attainment of inclusive and sustainable peace.”

Under EO 70, funding is required for the implementation of all programs, projects, and activities in the national peace framework, which must be included in the respective annual budgets of agencies concerned, including the DND.

The task force has generated controversy and drawn flak for its frequent “red-tagging” or branding of outspoken government critics and activists as communist rebels. /cb/abc