The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict was created by virtue of Executive Order No. 70 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on December 4, 2018 in response the breakdown of peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the CPP/NPA/NDF.
The administration, the opposition and its leftist-miltant allies, have been trying to out-propagandize each other in furthering their own agendas when it comes to the lingering issue of the insurgency mounted by the CPP/NPA/NDF against the government since 1968.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has its origins in the Partido Obrero de Filipinas, a labor-centered party formed in opposition to the leading Nacionalista and the Democrata parties at the time. Most of the members of the Partido Obrero were also leading figures in the labor movement, including PKP founders Crisanto Evangelista, Antonio Ora, Jacinto Manahan, and Domingo Ponce. Evangelista and his group were increasingly being radicalized towards left-wing politics. After a series of infighting among trade union socialists, the communists triumphed over their rivals and the PKP was born in 1930. What followed was a series of peasant revolts in the regions of Luzon as the PKP formed local chapters to propagate their ideology and the cause they were fighting for. These revolts led to the arrest and trial of the PKP founders.
In 1936, James S. Allen, a high-ranking official of the CPUSA came to the Philippines to persuade Evangelista’s group of accepting even a conditional pardon, under the argument that a united front must be maintained against world fascism which saw the rise of Hitler in Germany. Allen then went to President Manuel Quezon to successfully request the release of the communist leaders on December 31, 1936. He then returned in 1938 to secure an absolute pardon for the communist leaders, which was granted on December 24 of that same year. Given their full political rights, they were now able to act and implement the Comintern’s call for a united-front movement against fascism. The PKP was now a legal political party in the Philippine Commonwealth.
In 1940, war seemed inevitable. Japan’s aggressive stance against Russia and China proved that it had larger intentions in the region. The infamous attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 194 triggered hostilities between the US and Japan and the Philippines was now a participant. The PKP helped organize the fight against the Japanese invasion. Under the PKP leadership, the Hukbalahap (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon) was organized in 1942 under the leadership of Luis Taruc and Vicente Lava. The Hukbalahap fought against the Japanese occupation for the next three years until the war ended in 1945. After the end of Japanese occupation, the PKP found itself in a considerably strengthened position in the working class and peasant movements. The Congress of Labor Organizations was created in July 1945 under PKP management. In 1946 PKP participated in the presidential elections within the Democratic Alliance after the Americans hastily granted the Philippines independence. The PKP organized the Hukbong Bayan Magpalaya sa Bayan in 1949 and took up armed struggle against the goverment. The PKP was again outlawed that year by Congress.
In the course of the armed struggle, PKP and the People’s Liberation Army sustained large losses. By the end of 1954 the insurgency was effectively over, although it took a few more years to die out. It was also at this time that then President Ramon Magsaysay appointed Benigno Aquino Jr., as his personal emissary to Luis Taruc, the head of the Huks and one of the major leaders of the PKP, along with the Lava brothers. Aquino was able to persuade Taruc to surrender to the government and the insurgency was effectively over as the Magsaysay administration was fully-backed by the Americans in its bid to put down the communist insurgency.
The PKP was born out of Marxist-Leninist ideology which was dominant at that time because of the sucessful Russian Revolution which toppled the Czar. In 1964, Jose Maria Sison, under the nom de guerre Amado Guerrero, organized the Kabataang Makabayan. The KM was geared towards recruiting the youth, mostly university students, into protesting against corrupt politicians, the continuing exploitation of farmers and the US presence in the country. It would later go on to become the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1968, with an ideological shift to Maoism or Chairman Mao’s template for a social and cultural revolution after the victory of the Chinese communists against Chiang Kai Shek in 1949.
Sison would go on to mount the First Quarter Storm against the Marcos administration in 1971, which led to the declaration of martial law in 1972. Ninoy Aquino’s links to the CPP/NPA at that time have been confirmed together with evidence that he and Sison masterminded the Plaza Miranda bombing which resulted in injuries to the Senatorial candidates of the Liberal Party, which held its miting de avance on that evening. The New People’s Army (NPA), is the CPP’s armed component which continues to operate this day, although with much reduced capabilities owing to the deaths of its leaders over the years. Its leadership has been decimated by the series of purges Sison carried out after attempts by rivals, such as Popoy Lagman, to breakaway and form their own organizations were put down.
We all know what happened between the government and the CPP/NPA/NDF since Duterte assumed the Presidency. The President made it his goal to end the insurgency through peace talks, going to the extent of giving the leftist-militants three Cabinet posts and releasing detained leaders so they could participate in the negotiations in Oslo, which was sponsored by the Norwegian government. The talks broke down because of the demand for power-sharing without the benefit of direct election. The communist-front Makabayan bloc has only managed to win party-list seats since they began participating in elections. No leftist-militant leader, has managed to win even a Senate seat, despite their claim that they have the people’s support. They also have not won any elective post by direct voting. They have only been successful at the party-list level.
The NTF-ELCAC is the administration’s primary agency in defeating the insurgency based on a whole-of-nation approach but it has come under fire due to accusations from the opposition and its leftist-militant allies of red-tagging and its funds being used for political purposes, primarily to help administration candidates in the 2022 elections.
Both Senators and Congressmen have questioned the NTF-ELCAC’s increasing annual budget allocations as submitted under the Department of Budget and Management’s National Expenditure Program. It started out with a P1.7B allocation in 2019 which grew to P19.2B in 2020.
As NTF-Elcac budget grows, lawmakers start to frown
The lawmakers have been particularly concerned about the absence of check-and-balance mechanisms, particularly about portions of the budget being utilized as “intelligence and confidential funds.” There is also the concern about the “barangay development funds” given to barangays which need to “cleared” of insurgents.
Leftist-militant party-list groups in Congress have been most vocal about the use of the funds to go after members of “legitimate people’s organizations” meaning, those under their umbrella, which are operating in the most impoverished provinces of the country that are also hotbeds of the insurgency. This is their typical recruitment grounds for the warm bodies of the NPA.
Administration Senators were quick to defend the NTF-ELCAC budget. Sen. Bato De La Rosa said that the insurgency was also a form a pandemic given how long it has been fought. Others argued that the barangay development funds have made an impact as it has made opportunities available to LGUs whose local revenue arent’ enough to sustain its constituents even if its share of the internal revenue allotment from the national government is factored in.
Vice-President Leni Robredo also joined the fray by categorically stating she would abolish the NTF-ELCAC if she wins the Presidency. Her leftist-militant allies immediately heaped praise on her statement. However, they were agog when she changed her position completely after receiving a security briefing from the newly-appointed AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino at Camp Aguinaldo.
The leftist-militant groups wasted no time in pouncing on the Vice-President as they asked her to clarify her position; if she is for abolition or retention as she stated after her security briefing. It was a flip-flop of Leni proportions again, which makes you wonder, is she really fit to become President?
Another Presidential candidate, Sen. Ping Lacson, appears to have the solution; Budget Reform and Village Empowerment Bill (BRAVE).
Senate Bill No. 23 guarantees an annual Local Development Fund to help LGUs in provinces, cities, towns and barangays implement their three-year Comprehensive Development Plans.
Under the bill, a LDF for financing development projects, activities and programs will be given to:
Provinces: P500 million to P1 billion per year
Cities: P100 to P200 million each per year
Towns/municipalities: P50 to P100 million each per year
Barangays: P3 to P5 million each per year
The amount of LDF for each province, city or town shall be based on the following criteria:
50 percent of the prescribed amount for first-class LGUs
60 percent of the prescribed amount for second-class LGUs
70 percent of the prescribed amount for third-class LGUs
80 percent of the prescribed amount for fourth-class LGUs
90 percent of the prescribed amount for fifth-class LGUs
100 percent of the prescribed amount for sixth-class LGUs
The LDF is to be automatically and directly released to every LGU at the start of the fiscal year or quarterly within five days at the start of each quarter. The national government cannot impose a lien or imposition against this fund. This means that the LGU is not beholden to the district Congressman or the Executive, or the President, in the release of the development funds, which guarantees that there will be no politics involved.
However, the LDF will not be released without a certification from the Local Government Academy that the LGU is capacitated to plan and implement its Comprehensive Development Plan under the Local Development Councils.
The funds will be covered by the Commission on Audit’s annual review and a web-based monitoring system will be established which will include funding/cost, location, contractor, progress status, number of beneficiaries, date of completion and responsible government official, of the PAPs.
A Congressional Oversight Committee will monitor and oversee the implementation of the provisions of the Brave Bill. The Committee shall be composed of five members each from the Senate and House of Representatives. It will be chaired by the Chairpersons of the Committee on Local Government from both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Lacson’s measure would resolve the issues of proper utilization of funds under the national budget for regional development, lessen the incidence of corruption and patronage politics and finally implement the autonomy provisions as enshrined in the amendments to the Local Government Code.
The bill is there for consideration but the question is the counterpart measure in the House of Representatives. As is usually, the case, the Congressmen are protecting the “power of their purse” since this would cut down their influence at the district level and lessen their grip on the LGU heads. But by itself, the BRAVE Bill is landmark legislation that checks all the boxes in the drive to achieve better governance which is what Presidential candidate Lacson is pushing for in his campaign platform.
Comments