Task force to end insurgency readied

From the Visayan Daily Star (Aug 23, 2019): Task force to end insurgency readied

Days before the Negros Occidental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NOCTF-ELCAC) is set to be formalized, Governor Eugenio Lacson ordered the conduct of a ELCAC Planning Workshop at the Negros First Residences Function Room in Bacolod City, yesterday.

A plan is being drafted on how local governments can contribute to end the insurgency in Negros Occidental, he said, adding that efforts will also be made for local peace talks. It is a very challenging task but we will try to at least make an effort, he added.

“The president in his last three years would like to really make a difference,” he said.

The task force is in compliance with President Duterte’s proclamation of Executive Order No. 70 entitled “Institutionalizing the Whole-of-Nation Approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace, Creating a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, and Directing the adoption of a National Peace Framework”.

The activity was attended by Brig. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, 303rd Infantry Brigade Commander; Police Col. Romeo Baleros, Negros Occidental Provincial Police Director; Ma. Lina Sanogal, Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator; mayors and vice mayors, planning and development officers, and Sanggunian peace and order chairpersons.

“I’m grateful to Governor Lacson for initiating this kind of activity and I’m optimistic on the upcoming creation of Negros Occidental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NOCTF-ELCAC) as an opportunity for us to work together as part of the government and whole-of-nation approach to address the CPP-NPA,” Arevalo said.

“This kind of task force is to acknowledge the fact that the solution to end the insurgency problem is not in the hands of the security forces alone. So it is important that the local government units and national agencies are able to deliver their services especially to the far flung barangays who are usually being victimized by the deception and manipulation of the CPP-NPA-NDF,” Arevalo added.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2019/August/23/topstory7.htm