Security forces in Negros Occidental have underscored the vital role of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in the fight against insurgency, with various agencies coming together to implement a whole-of-nation approach to achieve the goal.
They outlined the advantages brought by the NTF-ELCAC, created through President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) 70 after Vice President Leni Robredo said she would abolish the body should she win as president in next year’s elections.
In Negros Occidental, 26 insurgency-cleared villages, including one in Bacolod City, have received a fund of PHP20 million each under the Barangay Development Program (BDP) of the NTF-ELCAC.
Capt. Kim Apitong, public affairs officer-in-charge of the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), which also covers the Negros Island, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday that development projects funded under the BDP are now being implemented in these villages, particularly those in Escalante City, Negros Occidental.
“The BDP of the NTF-ELCAC largely contributes to the campaign against insurgency and in attaining peace,” he said.
The northern city of Escalante has the most number of villages in the province freed from the influence of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), for a total of 14.
Last month, seven of these barangays received farm tractors amounting to PHP20.695 million, among the several other projects they are receiving under the BDP.
Apitong said the projects availed by the villages such as farm-to-market roads and agricultural equipment, are determined by the residents themselves.
“War is not just the solution to the insurgency. Government agencies work together to address the needs of these barangays. The whole-of-nation approach has a huge impact on this. Everyone is involved, not only us in combat operations,” he added.
1st Lt. Dansan Camua, civil-military operations officer of the 79th Infantry Battalion based in northern Negros, said the NTF-ELCAC has been a big help to the former insurgency-affected barangays, and the whole-of-nation approach is the key to bringing development to these areas.
“If EO 70 will not be sustained, we will go back to zero,” he said.
Camua pointed out that with its implementation, a number of members and combatants of the CPP-NPA have already surrendered and several guerrilla fronts have also been dismantled.
The 79IB has been instrumental in the dismantling of the NPA’s Northern Negros Front earlier this year, but with communist-terrorist remnants trying to recover their territory, the troops counter their terroristic activities with sustained efforts initiated under the NTF-ELCAC.
Camua said the BDP funds are not channeled for military operations, but go directly to the barangays for the implementation of development projects.
“If the (NTF-ELCAC) will not be supported and abolished, armed groups would really return to these villages,” he added.
Lt. Abegael Donasco, spokesperson of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO), said they have been working with advocacy support groups to help promote the initiatives of the NTF-ELCAC in various communities.
“We have joint activities with the Philippine Army. The local government units also support these activities. We have seen the benefits brought by the NTF-ELCAC,” she added.
The BDP is a hallmark program of the NTF-ELCAC with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities.
Under the BDP, each insurgency-cleared barangay or those formerly established as guerilla fronts of the CPP-NPA has been allocated an assistance of PHP20 million to rehabilitate and develop these areas.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The NDF has also been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Council
Source: Philippines News Agency
