“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for rulers hold
no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.” – Romans 13

CONCERNING: The Communist armed conflict and insurgency;
The NTF-ELCAC budget cut;
The NEP 2022, budgeting money of the People, for the People.

Many Parts, One Body

Paul the apostle wrote a timely reminder to the quickly modernizing Corinthian church, using an apt lesson in human anatomy to illustrate the crucial importance of Harmony in fostering the well-being of the diverse, fast-growing, first-century Christian community in cosmopolitan Corinth:
“The eye cannot say to the hand, I don’t need you. And the head cannot say to the feet, I don’t need you. On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable, we to treat with special honor… But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."
Paul’s message is as relevant today, as it was timely then, providing us with crucial insights into nation-building, a nation cramped for so long with so much dissonance in the middle of so much natural abundance and beauty.

Dear Pillars of the Pilipino People,

One people, one nation
“A house divided against itself will fall”.

“The moon is always full - it is our view of it that is half full, or a quarter, or a crescent, or blue, or red; the light of the stars never dims, they are just covered by clouds or our dimming perspectives”; -- Anon

The Nation grows as many Pillars as there are weak spots to be supported and sustained by their strength, stability, and unity of purpose and action; some Pillars build structures and systems, some Pillars find and allocate the money to fund them; some Pillars do the work designed for their highest and best use, for the highest number, reaching even far and remote places, so that no one is left behind and excluded; some Pillars are called to protect and preserve the built systems, and above all, when People, Communities, and ‘Ways of Life’ are threatened by calamities, disasters, disease or predators – they are called to expunge those threats judiciously, at the ‘speed of alacrity’. Predators are clever and devious and sometimes Pillars get contaminated and lose their way, but let’s be sure the Community has the antibodies to defend itself, purge infected Pillars and replace them with wiser, able ‘variants’.

The National Expenditure Program is only as good or bad, only as adequate or inadequate, as the way it serves the whole community, and all its parts, against all afflictions;

Flagellation used to be a religious ritual practiced during lent. Now, it is becoming a national reflex increasing in intensity, frequency, and visibility, like birth pangs; it’s all around us – on the streets, in mainstream and social media, even in the Houses of Congress; people say it’s just election fever, but there is never an excuse to self-destruct.

Who is saying/doing what, and why?
--The VP said she wants to abolish NTF-ELCAC and will do so if elected president in 2022;

--Six senators from the so-called opposition (opposed to what?) express the desire to defund NTF-ELCAC;

--In the NEP2022 (budget) approval process, presently ongoing at the Senate level, the Senate Committee Chair explains that a large slash in the ELCAC budget that was passed at the Lower House, was prompted by the Agency’s failure to report how the 2021 budget was spent, saying, in so many words, that he supported the ELCAC program in concept, but without the report, the reduction became the ‘unwanted consequence’;

--Another Senator commended the cut forthwith, promptly showing personal antipathy toward the program that, according to NTF-ELCAC broadcasted reports, has otherwise been successful in inspiring rebels to surrender, and in delivering development to far-flung beneficiary barangays; as far as I can see, the program deserves access to all the finishing touches for the total eradication of insurgency and spare the nation of this long-standing burden and drain to its collective energies and resources;

--Sen. Bato is seen to succinctly, valiantly question the budget haircut, citing his personal experiences on the ground in fighting the insurgency and personally witnessing isolated barangays’ needs for farm-to-market roads, water, sanitation, health (WASH) services, and other forms of development inputs that constitute the Barangay Development Program (BDP) and Community Support Program (CSP), at the core of the NTF-ELCAC budget;

--A lawmaker hints at self-proclaimed wisdom to declare that the Covid-response must be given priority over ELCAC, insinuating that an aggressive Anti-Insurgency budget was out-of-place in the time of pandemic;

--Sen. Bato, solidly retorts that the anti-Covid response can be given priority without abandoning or diminishing the anti-insurgency response, pointing out that “multitasking is a good way to go”, and can easily be done even while prioritizing the anti-Covid effort; “the BDP/CSP programs, do in fact, contain elements of anti-Covid assistance to the beneficiary communities; TOUCHE…

--NTF-ELCAC officers point out: NPA cadres and entire ‘Regional Commands’ are abandoning the “pointless internecine struggles” and returning to the fold of law; development inputs are reaching far-flung barangays that have “been previously cleared”; citing various grateful testimonies of tribal members that have tasted the benefits of the BDP/CSP programs, we see Task Force leaders express intense frustration on hearing threats against the Program’s very existence, that come from parts of the very same govt that deliver the same benefits that are warmly welcomed by the beneficiaries; case in point: https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/11/15/news/regions/barangay-in-tanay-gets-p20m-funding/1822266?utm_source=izooto&utm_medium=push_notifications&utm_campaign=news

What do the people say?
The suggested abolition of NTF-ELCAC is opposed by many govt officials and private citizens, from as far away as Mindanao, citing reports about how the BDP program has positively impacted their community:
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/11/12/news/regions/abolition-of-govt-task-force-on-armed-conflict-opposed/1821860?utm_source=izooto&utm_medium=push_notifications&utm_campaign=news

From the standpoint of ‘simple semantics’: NTF-ELCAC’s mission is explicitly contained in its name – “end local Communist armed conflict”; do not ‘semantics’ say that “one who wants to abolish or defund NTF-ELCAC does not want L-C-A-C to end or, by inference, wants L-C-A-C to prosper”? “NTF-ELCAC is a defined govt program, created by Executive Order 70; when anyone proposes or supports the opposite of the objectives of the said EO, is that not ‘usurpation of authority’ and ‘default of responsibility under the EO? Does it not contradict the interests of the People that govt serves and represents?”

From the technical angle of sound budgeting practice: “by all means, the Senate Committee should get the reports that will explain how 2021 budget was spent; however, deficiencies or weaknesses found in the disbursements of the 2021 budget do not necessarily lead to a valid conclusion that the 2022 budget should be reduced without first evaluating the 2022 proposal line-item by line-item, against the objectives of the Program from the point of view of ‘Bottoms-up-Budgeting’, aka ‘Zero-based Budgeting”; this budgeting method requires line by line analysis and justification of the entire budget, and departs from the obsolete, traditional, easy-to-abuse budget method called ‘Incremental Budgeting’ that simply adjusts previous year’s budget by assumed factors of increases/decreases that reflect agreed expectations, targets or convenient outlook for the organization. More on Incremental Budgeting: Fair & Square Budgets

In the light of these revelations, what more can a plain and ordinary citizen say? Nothing more than just this: It’s time to stop sweeping our problems under the rug;

IT’S TIME TO BUCKLE UP, IT’S TIME TO BICKER DOWN!

Bob Calida Nov. 14, 2021
P.S. To add action to these words, I humbly offer my small 12th and 13th SSS pension for 2021, as token seed to hopefully ignite a continuing fund-raising campaign, to support NTF-ELCAC’s ‘Development Communications’; I nominate a known supporter in media, as handler and steward of the 12th, and another media institution for the 13th, both to be named upon acceptance of the offer. May God bless, prosper, and accomplish the purpose for which this gesture is given – to show and generate support for the Programs of NTF-ELCAC, for the benefit of the Pilipino.
Attachments:
Fair & Square Budgets
Community and Academic Freedom