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Senate realignment of P19B fund would affect 16 Negros brgys: Guv

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he hopes the Senate approves the proposed P19 billion fund for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in the 2021 budget, which some senators want realigned.

“There are 16 barangays in Negros Occidental that stand to received P20 million each for being NPA (New People’s Army) cleared,” he said today, November 17.

Lacson said with a total of P320 million expected for the 16 barangays, “naturally, I would like to see this fund approved in the Senate.”

Opposition senators Monday, November 16, said they are pushing for the realignment of the P19 billion anti-insurgency fund to address more pressing needs, like aid to typhoon victims and the COVID-19 response.

Sen. Nancy Binay also questioned why several barangays in highly-urbanized cities, including a greening program for Barangay Banago in Bacolod City, were included in the list of recipients of the anti-insurgency fund intended to spur development in rural areas.

Binay said there is no forest in Banago because it is a port area. She called for the exclusion of barangays in highly urbanized cities from the anti-insurgency fund.

Under the proposed anti-insurgency program, the P20 million allotment for each NPA “cleared” barangay can be used for road concreting, school buildings, water sanitation, greening, and for health stations.*

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