GAINING GROUNDS. Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso III, commander of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, Samar. The official said on Friday (July 24, 2020) the fight against insurgency is bearing fruits in Eastern Visayas with communities, local governments, and central government linking arms to end the decades-long armed rebellion. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Army)
The fight against insurgency is bearing fruits in Eastern Visayas with communities, local governments, and central government linking arms to end the decades-long armed rebellion.
The Philippine Army noted that since the creation of local task forces on ending local communist armed conflict (ELCAC) in 2019, the revolutionary movement in the region has weakened.
As of mid-July, all seven cities and 135 towns in the region have formed their task force ELCAC, Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso III, commander of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said in a phone interview on Friday.
About 30 percent of the region’s 4,390 villages have their own task forces.
At the municipal level, only the town of San Sebastian in Samar has yet to create the local body.
The town mayor, the army official said, is reluctant to form the task force since he is just an officer-in-charge.
Diñoso attributed to the task forces’ efforts why the NPA membership dwindled despite continuing recruitment activities.
As of mid-2020, the NPA in Eastern Visayas has 384 fighters with 363 firearms, a big reduction from 506 active members with 447 recorded in October 2019, according to a report of the regional task force ELCAC.
“The creation of task force ELCAC has a significant impact in reducing the strength of armed rebellion as village officials and residents provide vital information that led to the neutralization of NPA fighters,” the army commander added.
Since 2019, three NPA guerrilla fronts based in some parts of Leyte and Samar provinces fell after combined combat operations and community support programs.
Still ongoing is the dismantling of two guerrilla fronts operating in San Jose de Buan, Matuguinao, Motiong, Paranas, Basey, Marabut, and Sta. Rita in Samar.
“Our soldiers will not leave the residents until the whole Samar Island attains a just and lasting peace. They are agents and warriors of peace. They will go to the villages, not for chaos but to bring peace,” Diñoso said.
The regional, provincial, and municipal task forces have been deploying retooled community support program (RCSP) teams to identify the issues of the people that will be raised to concerned government agencies and local government for them to address it accordingly.
"We are going to support the RCSP and together in this journey, we will continue to provide the basic services to the people in order to let them feel government efforts,” said Sta. Rita Mayor Joven Tiu during the RCSP team deployment on July 13.
The formation of the task force operationalizes Executive Order 70 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte on Dec. 4, 2018.
The directive also institutionalizes a “whole-of-nation approach” in attaining an inclusive and sustainable peace.
Patterned after the national and regional task forces, the local body is composed of heads of local offices of the Departments of the Interior and Local Government, Justice, Defense, Public Works and Highway, Budget, Finance, Agrarian Reform, Social Welfare and Education as well as the military, police, local communication office, and private sector representatives.
At the village level, the task force is composed of members of the barangay peace and order council and community-based organizations.
The NPA, which has been waging a five-decade armed struggle against the government, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1109949
The Philippine Army noted that since the creation of local task forces on ending local communist armed conflict (ELCAC) in 2019, the revolutionary movement in the region has weakened.
As of mid-July, all seven cities and 135 towns in the region have formed their task force ELCAC, Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso III, commander of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said in a phone interview on Friday.
About 30 percent of the region’s 4,390 villages have their own task forces.
At the municipal level, only the town of San Sebastian in Samar has yet to create the local body.
The town mayor, the army official said, is reluctant to form the task force since he is just an officer-in-charge.
Diñoso attributed to the task forces’ efforts why the NPA membership dwindled despite continuing recruitment activities.
As of mid-2020, the NPA in Eastern Visayas has 384 fighters with 363 firearms, a big reduction from 506 active members with 447 recorded in October 2019, according to a report of the regional task force ELCAC.
“The creation of task force ELCAC has a significant impact in reducing the strength of armed rebellion as village officials and residents provide vital information that led to the neutralization of NPA fighters,” the army commander added.
Since 2019, three NPA guerrilla fronts based in some parts of Leyte and Samar provinces fell after combined combat operations and community support programs.
Still ongoing is the dismantling of two guerrilla fronts operating in San Jose de Buan, Matuguinao, Motiong, Paranas, Basey, Marabut, and Sta. Rita in Samar.
“Our soldiers will not leave the residents until the whole Samar Island attains a just and lasting peace. They are agents and warriors of peace. They will go to the villages, not for chaos but to bring peace,” Diñoso said.
The regional, provincial, and municipal task forces have been deploying retooled community support program (RCSP) teams to identify the issues of the people that will be raised to concerned government agencies and local government for them to address it accordingly.
"We are going to support the RCSP and together in this journey, we will continue to provide the basic services to the people in order to let them feel government efforts,” said Sta. Rita Mayor Joven Tiu during the RCSP team deployment on July 13.
The formation of the task force operationalizes Executive Order 70 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte on Dec. 4, 2018.
The directive also institutionalizes a “whole-of-nation approach” in attaining an inclusive and sustainable peace.
Patterned after the national and regional task forces, the local body is composed of heads of local offices of the Departments of the Interior and Local Government, Justice, Defense, Public Works and Highway, Budget, Finance, Agrarian Reform, Social Welfare and Education as well as the military, police, local communication office, and private sector representatives.
At the village level, the task force is composed of members of the barangay peace and order council and community-based organizations.
The NPA, which has been waging a five-decade armed struggle against the government, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1109949
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