COA flags DND for barely tapping millions of NTF-ELCAC funds

December 2, 2025 | 5:51pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of National Defense only used roughly a third of the funds it received for programs under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) from 2020 to 2024, leaving most of the money unspent and forcing the return of more than P7.6 million to government coffers. 

This was one of several observations by the Commission on Audit for the DND in the annual audit reports it released on Monday, December 1. 

Since 2020, COA said the DND has been allotted a total of P14.3 million in NTF-ELCAC funds. But the department obligated only P4.6 million, or 31.8%. The remaining P9.8 million was left untouched, with P7.6 million eventually reverting to the national treasury. 

In its report, COA said DND's “low over-all utilization rate… indicates inefficiencies in fund administration” and delays in carrying out programs intended to support counterinsurgency efforts.

Function of NTF-ELCAC. The Duterte-era task force has faced sustained criticism under the Marcos administration, with progressive groups and opposition lawmakers saying it has been used primarily to red-tag activists rather than carry out development projects. They have pressed for its abolition and for its budget to be realigned to education and social services. 

Security officials and the DND itself — the task force member most responsible for internal security operations — have defended the task force as it purportedly roots out rebels through barangay development programs, among others.

But the audit report released Monday shows that even within the defense department, NTF-ELCAC funds have gone largely unused.

According to COA, the unspent allotments translated into “missed opportunities” to carry out projects aimed at peace and development in conflict-affected communities — the task force’s core mandate under Executive Order No. 70, issued in 2018 under former President Rodrigo Duterte.  

Restructuring. The DND initially created an NTF-ELCAC core group in 2019, but later abolished this through a March 2023 department circular that set new counterinsurgency policies and established the DND NTF-ELCAC Management Office. COA noted that this office is supposed to oversee all programs and activities tied to the task force’s goals.

Despite this restructuring, auditors said the department still failed to carry out and obligate most of its allotted funds. 

Next steps. COA recommended the DND to maximize the utilization of NTF-ELCAC funds by "identifying programs and projects, ensuring their alignment with the objective of attaining inclusive and sustainable peace, and ensuring that they are implemented to achieve intended impact.

The department, COA said, agreed with the recommendation during its exit conference on March 31, 2025.