PHILIPPINE National Police chief General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar denied charges made by Senator Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson that police are using part of their P800 million funding from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) to prepare for the 2022 presidential and national elections.

“The Philippine National Police categorically and vehemently deny the allegation of Senator Panfilo Lacson that we have misused the NTF-ELCAC funds by using it to conduct census in the different barangays nationwide. The PNP is not conducting or instructing our chiefs of police to ask 30% of barangay residents to give their names, contact numbers and addresses for the census. We have no use for any census,” he said in a statement he read during a press conference at Camp Crame.

According to the top cop, the PNP in support of Executive Order No. 70 and the whole of the nation approach implemented the Intensified Cleanliness Policy – Cleanliness in the office, cleanliness in the ranks and cleanliness in the community.

Another approach they have done is to deepen their police-community relations programs by working with different communities nationwide, including NGOs and advocacy groups, he explained. The PNP Directorate for Police-Community Relations headed by Major Gen. Rhodel O. Sermonia is spearheading the campaign.

“We are promoting cooperation and coordination between the PNP and the community to improve our services and work hand in hand with members of the community for our anti-drug and anti-criminality efforts, as well as protecting the community, especially the youth from falling prey to syndicates and being recruited by communist fronts,” the PNP chief said.

“Everything that is being done by the PNP in relation to the NTF-ELCAC funds is above board, and we welcome any investigation that may be conducted,” he added while thanking Sen. Lacson, a former PNP chief for bringing up the issue and asking them to clarify it.

PNP Director for Operations, Major Gen. Alfred S. Corpus said that during the 2nd period of 2021 alone, the PNP scored major accomplishments as far as the ELCAR is concerned. They include the arrest of 12 NPA members, the surrender of 834 and the killing of 106 armed rebels in gun battles with the security troops.

“This means to say na yung ginagawa ng DPCR ay nagkakaroon ng resulta. Tayo ay naniniwala na hindi lahat ng laban sa insurgency ay armed confrontation, siguro itong surrenderees can be attributed to sa mga ginagawa ng DPCR,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Corpus said that those efforts also led to the dismantling of eight NPA guerrilla fronts across the country during the previous year.

Gen. Eleazar said that records will show that their humble distribution to the NTF-ELCAC are the following: the arrest of 355 NPA members, the surrender of 2,790 others and the recovery of 945 rebel firearms.

According to the PNP chief, all their police units down to the lowest police stations are conducting humanitarian assistance and related disaster relief operations through their Barangayanihan Food and Help Bank which is their grassroots engagements to address the devastating social and economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic, as well as natural and man-made disasters.

All of these programs are in accordance with Napolcom Resolution 2015-342 or “Resolution to Empower the Philippine National Police to Perform its Role as a Community and Service Oriented Agency Through the Adoption of the Community and Service Oriented Policing System Involving the Local Chief Executives, the PNP and the Community as mandated under Section 2 of RA 6975, as amended by RA 8551, he said.

Gen. Eleazar said that they need the program to counter threats posed by the CPP/NDF and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.

“Community Mobilization, has been done by the CPP-NPA-NDF and had helped in growing its mass base, and no one questioned them, and in fact ignored them. Now that it is the PNP conducting community mobilization to foster our relations, improve cooperation and coordination so we can better serve the people, promote anti-drugs and anti-criminality programs, engage force multipliers to protect the communities, the ill-meaning individuals and groups are making it an issue,” he said.

“The PNP is not disheartened by such unfounded statements, we know that they are by people who would not want us to succeed, especially the fronts of CPP-NPA-NDF, for our success will make people know and realize that they have been deceiving people all along to advance their interest. For the only way they are relevant is when they make it appear that the government is inept and indifferent to the needs of the people,” he said.

According to the official, the government and the PNP is not in the business of promoting its success and activities to help the people. “We just work and are not after any applause or commendations.”

Gen. Eleazar said that it appears that government critics have been noticing the success of the program, thus their effort to malign the PNP by spreading false information.

“Napapansin ng mga kontra-gobyerno ang ating ginagawa at marahil sila ang nagpapalabas ng mga rumors na ito para subukan na pigilan ang ating community mobilization at cleansing program. Mabuti na lang at si Senator Lacson ay nag-open up about this rumors that came to him,” Gen. Eleazar said.

“So we will use this opportunity to finally bring out and let the people see the projects of the PNP that directly impacts the community,” he said.