The New People’s Army (NPA) in Southeast Negros commends Negros Oriental’s Provincial Board in its decision to slash the budget intended for “gathering intelligence” in order to allocate more resources to its Covid-19 response.

The Provincial Board approved the reduction of said budget from P11 million to P1 million.

NPA-Southeast Negros along with fellow Negrosanons expressed appreciation to the members of the provincial board for prioritizing health and other basic services and their courage to stand up for what is right out of their own volition.

They also lambasted remarks of 302nd IBde Commander Col. Leonardo Peña that “intelligence gathering requires budget” and that “they have to pay assets in exchange of information.”

Peña’s statement is contradictory to their claim that they are winning the hearts and minds of the people through their Retooled Community Support Program. To justify the military’s appeal to retain intel budget, he claimed that there are 300 Red fighters they still have to defeat, contrary to their declaration that they have been able to dismantle the Southeast Front of the NPA in Negros. Inadvertenly Peña admitted that the NPA is growing in strength.

During the recent session of Provincial Peace and Order Council, board members rejected PNP Provincial Director Col. Bryant Demot’s motion to retain the intel funds. The board noted that P1 million have been distributed to each of the seven health centers in the primary hospitals of Bindoy, Bayawan City, Bais City and Guihulngan City to improve their services.