Philippines to raise anti-insurgent budget elevenfold

NEW YORK -- The Philippine government is beefing up the budget of an anti-communist task force that has made headlines by accusing celebrities of ties to alleged radical groups, part of a counterinsurgency campaign that overseas critics say has become a tool in President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on political opponents.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), created by Duterte in 2018 to counter communist propaganda, will see its budget raised more than elevenfold next year to 19.13 billion Philippine pesos ($396.7 million) from 1.7 billion pesos in 2020. But opponents say the government has not told the public what the money will be spent on.