The government’s fight against corruption, insurgency, illegal drugs, and COVID-19 continues with less than a year left on the current administration’s term.
During the second leg of pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) forum Pamana ng Pagbabago on July 16, the Participatory Governance Cluster (PGC) reported that 1,269 local governments and 35,443 barangays are fully compliant with full disclosure policy.
In the fight against corruption, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Aῆo said eight governors and 184 mayors were “stripped of police deputation authority” by the National Police Commission due to illegal activity involvement.
The DILG also reported that 21,891 barangays are drug-free since 2016, at least 289, 622 were arrested including 12,069 high-value targets, and 757 drug dens and clandestine laboratories were dismantled.
The crime volume at 520,641 in 2017 fell to 473,068 in 2018, rose to 487,495 in 2019, and declined to 383,189 in 2020 when the country was placed on lockdown. The crime volume for 2021 as of June is at 193,103.
In terms of insurgency response, 1,679 communis terrorist groups (CTGs) were neutralized, 202 were arrested, 38 died during encounters, and 1,439 surrendered.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported that it has released P665.72 billion for government response against the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Sa kabila ng pandemyang ito, ang Pilipinas ay kinilala ng International Budget Partnership bilang isa sa tanging apat na bansang may adequate level of accountability para sa programa at proyekto laban sa COVID-19,” DBM Sec. Avisado said. – Report from John Aroa/PTV Cebu/AG-rir
