PEACEBUILDING. Brig. Gen. Edgardo de Leon, 403rd Brigade commander, delivers his presentation for the seminar-workshop on the formulation of the Strategic Communication Plan for Peace and Development 2019-2022 in Cagayan de Oro City on Monday (Sept. 2, 2019). De Leon pushes proactive information drive to counter the communist terrorist groups’ propaganda. (PCOO photo)
The Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict Region 10 (RTF-ELCAC-10) will fight black propaganda by swamping fake news with the truth, instead of attacking the story.
In a workshop for the formulation of the Strategic Communications Plan for Peace and Development Plan 2019-2022 for Region 10, 403rd Brigade Commander, Brig. Gen. Edgardo de Leon said the government should counter black propaganda by communist terrorist groups (CTG) through constant information dissemination and fighting disinformation.
“To counter CTG propaganda, we do not have to always demonize them…We just have to tell the truth and focus the battle on fighting disinformation,” said de Leon, who represented RTF-ELCAC chairperson, Maj. Gen. Franco Nemesio Gacal during the two-day workshop which started on Monday (September 2).
The seminar-workshop, co-organized by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), aims to formulate a unified communication strategy for Northern Mindanao that will be adapted by line regional government offices and PCOO attached agencies and bureaus.
He said this harmonized content dissemination system is seen to boost peace-building and social development efforts in Northern Mindanao.
“We in the government do not have a penchant for lifting our own chair, for boasting about the good things that we have done. But our silence has been taken advantage of by other interest groups that use it as an opportunity to distort the picture, malign our image, and portray us negatively to the people,” de Leon said.
“As public servants, that should not be the case. Our constituents have the right to be informed and be kept in the loop of information on what we are doing to serve them,” he added, noting that the government should utilize all media platforms for information dissemination.
Moreover, de Leon said the CTG’s deceptive communication strategies have long existed to entice the masses such as marginalized farmers, women, and the youth to join them in exchange for empty promises.
With this, he encouraged participants from the different regional agencies to collectively craft a communication strategy that is proactive -- one that deliberately informs the public with the efforts undertaken by authorities.
“Matagal na pong inumpisahan ni Joma Sison ‘yung whole-of-nation revolution (Joma Sison has started a whole-of-nation revolution a long time ago),” he said, adding that the Duterte administration has likewise embarked on a whole-of-government approach in fighting communist terrorists through the RTF-ELCAC.
The Army commander further encouraged the participants to further look into tactics of the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army–National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) to identify more effective countermeasures.
De Leon said the RTF-ELCAC should formulate social communication and marketing campaigns focusing on the masses, especially the underprivileged ones, as they are vulnerable to the CTG’s unscrupulous propaganda.
“The vulnerability of the CPP-CPA-NDF is its over-reliance of the masses…pag wala ang masa, bagsak ang CPP-NPA-NDF (without the masses, CPP-NPA-NDP will fall),” he said.
De Leon said highlighting the RTF-ELCAC’s civilian efforts against insurgency would help clear their negative perception of the government and help point out the atrocities of the CTGs.
In the same workshop, PCOO Public Affairs Head Jusan Vincent Arcena represented Secretary Martin Andanar to discuss the national government’s communication strategy.
Andanar was the designated Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Region 10.
Arcena highlighted the Comprehensive Communications Committee, composed of PCOO’s bureaus, attached agencies, and government-owned and -controlled corporations, which is in charge of setting the narrative of the country by promoting the administration's projects and initiatives through its own communications channels.
“Bringing all government communicators and spokespersons on the same page will let us effectively promote the Duterte administration's messages and advance our national interest for inclusive and sustainable development,” he said.
The two-day workshop-seminar is expected to come up with a draft of Region 10’s Strategic Communications plan for Peace and Development Plan 2019-2022.
In December 2018, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Executive Order 70 institutionalizing the “whole-of-nation approach” wherein the national government, local government units, and members of the community can initiate “localized peace engagements” with the communist insurgents.
Under the EO 70, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) was created to provide structure and mechanisms for the implementation of the whole-of-nation approach, as well as the adoption of a National Peace Framework.
The NTF-ELCAC supervises the RTF-ELCACs which are responsible for the implementation of the national programs and policies at the regional level. (PR)
In a workshop for the formulation of the Strategic Communications Plan for Peace and Development Plan 2019-2022 for Region 10, 403rd Brigade Commander, Brig. Gen. Edgardo de Leon said the government should counter black propaganda by communist terrorist groups (CTG) through constant information dissemination and fighting disinformation.
“To counter CTG propaganda, we do not have to always demonize them…We just have to tell the truth and focus the battle on fighting disinformation,” said de Leon, who represented RTF-ELCAC chairperson, Maj. Gen. Franco Nemesio Gacal during the two-day workshop which started on Monday (September 2).
The seminar-workshop, co-organized by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), aims to formulate a unified communication strategy for Northern Mindanao that will be adapted by line regional government offices and PCOO attached agencies and bureaus.
He said this harmonized content dissemination system is seen to boost peace-building and social development efforts in Northern Mindanao.
“We in the government do not have a penchant for lifting our own chair, for boasting about the good things that we have done. But our silence has been taken advantage of by other interest groups that use it as an opportunity to distort the picture, malign our image, and portray us negatively to the people,” de Leon said.
“As public servants, that should not be the case. Our constituents have the right to be informed and be kept in the loop of information on what we are doing to serve them,” he added, noting that the government should utilize all media platforms for information dissemination.
Moreover, de Leon said the CTG’s deceptive communication strategies have long existed to entice the masses such as marginalized farmers, women, and the youth to join them in exchange for empty promises.
With this, he encouraged participants from the different regional agencies to collectively craft a communication strategy that is proactive -- one that deliberately informs the public with the efforts undertaken by authorities.
“Matagal na pong inumpisahan ni Joma Sison ‘yung whole-of-nation revolution (Joma Sison has started a whole-of-nation revolution a long time ago),” he said, adding that the Duterte administration has likewise embarked on a whole-of-government approach in fighting communist terrorists through the RTF-ELCAC.
The Army commander further encouraged the participants to further look into tactics of the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army–National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) to identify more effective countermeasures.
De Leon said the RTF-ELCAC should formulate social communication and marketing campaigns focusing on the masses, especially the underprivileged ones, as they are vulnerable to the CTG’s unscrupulous propaganda.
“The vulnerability of the CPP-CPA-NDF is its over-reliance of the masses…pag wala ang masa, bagsak ang CPP-NPA-NDF (without the masses, CPP-NPA-NDP will fall),” he said.
De Leon said highlighting the RTF-ELCAC’s civilian efforts against insurgency would help clear their negative perception of the government and help point out the atrocities of the CTGs.
In the same workshop, PCOO Public Affairs Head Jusan Vincent Arcena represented Secretary Martin Andanar to discuss the national government’s communication strategy.
Andanar was the designated Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Region 10.
Arcena highlighted the Comprehensive Communications Committee, composed of PCOO’s bureaus, attached agencies, and government-owned and -controlled corporations, which is in charge of setting the narrative of the country by promoting the administration's projects and initiatives through its own communications channels.
“Bringing all government communicators and spokespersons on the same page will let us effectively promote the Duterte administration's messages and advance our national interest for inclusive and sustainable development,” he said.
The two-day workshop-seminar is expected to come up with a draft of Region 10’s Strategic Communications plan for Peace and Development Plan 2019-2022.
In December 2018, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Executive Order 70 institutionalizing the “whole-of-nation approach” wherein the national government, local government units, and members of the community can initiate “localized peace engagements” with the communist insurgents.
Under the EO 70, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) was created to provide structure and mechanisms for the implementation of the whole-of-nation approach, as well as the adoption of a National Peace Framework.
The NTF-ELCAC supervises the RTF-ELCACs which are responsible for the implementation of the national programs and policies at the regional level. (PR)
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