Manila, Philippines – 75% of the P16.4 billion fund dubbed as the “Anti-Red Fund” has been released to the 822 recipients of the Barangay Development Program (BDP) as of May 12.
In a statement last May 14, 2021, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the amount accounts for more than 1,750 projects in 617 barangays whose allocations were approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Malaya as the spokesperson for BDP and local government concerns of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) said the ‘anti-red funds’ were released by DBM directly to recipient local governments.
782 barangays were endorsed for fund release by their respective Joint Regional Task Force – Elcac (JRTF), and an additional 40 barangays are still up for review. In total there are 822 barangays that may receive the said fund.
The public can monitor updates related to the release of the budget through the NTF-Elcac webpage: https://www.ntfelcac.org/bdp-dashboard. “There everyone will be able to keep track of where their taxes are going. And we assure you that these funds are going to where they are supposed to go and are spent the way they are supposed to be spent,” Malaya said.
While under criticism from Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon due to its speedy release and the government’s spending priorities, the BDP aims to incentivize barangays that have cleared their areas of communists. These barangays will receive P20 million, which can be appropriated to fund projects such as: farm-to-market roads (P12 million), livelihood (P1.5 million), irrigation (P1.5 million), health stations (P1.5 million), and school buildings (P3 million).
Additional Report: Dexter Cabalza, Inquirer.net
Photo credits: Inquirer.net, Manila Bulletin,
