Published June 1, 2021, 4:53 PM
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday vowed to oppose next year’s budget of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), reiterating his belief the budget would be used as a huge “campaign kitty” of the Duterte administration for the 2022 elections.
“We should be more vigilant. The 2022 budget is an election budget. We must not allow the budget to be used for election or partisan political activities,” Drilon said in a statement.
Drilon said he believes that the NTF-ELCAC will seek an increase to its budget in the upcoming budget deliberations to give away more funds to different barangays across the country “in an election year.”
Published May 5, 2021, 12:59 PM
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday urged the Philippine government to exert efforts to use “megaphone” diplomacy to counter China’s continued aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
Drilon made the call even as he defended Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr.’s expletive-laden tweets against China on social media.
Locsin has apologized for his rants against China on Twitter after reportedly being told only President Duterte can use curse words.
In his tweet, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) chief called China an “ugly oaf” and demanded that it “get the f ” out of Philippine waters, referring to the continued presence of Chinese coastguard ships near Scarborough Shoal.
Published May 5, 2021, 2:47 PM
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday, May 5, rejected President Duterte’s pronouncement that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is the “hero” behind the government’s response to the pandemic, saying the Philippine’s coronavirus (COVID-19) management is a failure under his watch.
“As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating,” Drilon said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.
As far as he is concerned, Drilon said Duque should be blamed for the government’s failure to manage the pandemic right from the start when he failed to recommend the closure of borders to China when the pandemic first broke out on January last year.
endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 4) - Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday questioned the government s spending priorities amid the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the hasty release of over ₱10 billion to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Bakit po parang nagmadaling ilabas ang budget? Bakit yung pondo sa Marawi rehabilitation mabagal ang paglabas ng pondo? Saan po gagamitin itong ₱10.68 bilyon? Drilon said in a statement.
[Translation: Why is there a rush to release the budget? Why is the release of funds for Marawi rehabilitation taking so long? Where will they use the ₱10.68 billion?]
The budget of the NTF-ELCAC for this year is ₱19 billion, with ₱16.4 to be spent for its Barangay Development Program as incentives for barangays cleared of insurgency threats.
Drilon says US can use vaccine diplomacy to compete with China on world influence By HANA BORDEY, GMA News
Published May 5, 2021 12:20pm Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday said the United States must compete with China in terms of world influence using “vaccine diplomacy.” Interviewed on ANC, Drilon noted China s supposed moves to extend its influence not only in Asia but all over the world. “They (US) can compete with China and do exactly what China is doing, if they want to do so: vaccine diplomacy,” Drilon said. “China is an economic power today and will continue to exert its influence not only over this part of the world but worldwide. What is there for the US? They should compete with China insofar as world influence is concerned and one available venue is vaccines,” he added.