Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the slashing of the 2022 budget of the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) will affect the infrastructure and social services projects for the poor in remote areas under the Barangay Development Program (BDP).

"The move by the Senate Finance Committee to cut the Barangay Development Program budget by P24 billion shows their lack of appreciation of the plight of our folks in the remote barangays," Lorenzana said on Thursday.

"Their act was supposed to punish the NTF, but in effect they are punishing the poor people who would have benefitted from the infrastructure and social services projects under the BDP," he said.

"The previous BDP funds were all disbursed through the LGUs," he added.

Following the proposal of Vice President Leni Robredo to abolish NTF-ELCAC because it could be used like tokhang is misplaced, Lorenzana said the vice president "may consider inviting the NTF-ELCAC for a dialogue so she can be enlightened on the inter-agency body's mission."

"The NTF has been implementing its mandate for the past two years and we have not received any complaints from the target barangays. Likewise, the NTF is already implementing a whole-of-nation approach to address the “root causes" of insurgency," he said. Robina Asido/DMS