Reg'l ELCAC gains in Caraga get spotlight during PRRD visit

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 11, 2022): Reg'l ELCAC gains in Caraga get spotlight during PRRD visit (By Priam Nepomuceno)

President Rodrigo Duterte

The massive gains of the Regional Task Force to End Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) in Region 13 (Caraga) in the campaign against the communist terrorist New People's Army (NPA) will be showcased in the upcoming visit of President Rodrigo Duterte in the region Tuesday.

National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) vice chair Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Monday said Duterte would hold a dialogue with Caraga's local officials and see for himself the peace and development accomplishments there.

Citing intelligence reports in 2021, Esperon said roughly 83 percent of rebel returnees were recruited by the NPA from the ranks of the IP (Indigenous Peoples) sector.

Caraga is home to numerous IP communities and has been the focus of the communist terrorist's propaganda and disinformation.

Due to the geographical and social limitations of the IP communities, they are considered as priorities of the government’s intervention and development initiatives, Esperon said.

Esperon, who is also National Security Adviser, said the Caraga has been historically among the hotbeds of communist terrorism in the country.

At the start of the Duterte administration in 2016, there were a total of 11 guerilla fronts (GFs) in Region 13.

"Since then, three of these GFs were completely dismantled while two are significantly weakened. The remaining six GFs are in the process of being cleared by our security forces," Esperon said.

"In fact, in less than three years, the combined AFP-PNP (Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police) efforts have neutralized 978 NPA regulars, and seized 290 firearms. I wish to highlight the neutralization of 37 high-ranking officials of CTG in the region," he added.

Another significant accomplishment of Caraga's RTF-ELCAC is the closure of the Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood Development and Tribal Filipino Program in Surigao del Sur in 2020.

These schools were found to be illegally operating with the purpose of indoctrinating and radicalizing the youth and IP sectors for their recruitment as NPA armed combatants.

"On the status of Barangay Development Program in the Caraga Region for 2021, 191 barangays were covered in the flagship program with a total of 359 infrastructure and non-infrastructure priority projects. For 2022, another 94 barangays were added as recipients of BDP in the region. In particular, the BDP beneficiaries for 2022 include three in Butuan City, eight in Agusan del Norte, 45 in Agusan del Sur, 20 in Surigao del Norte, and 18 in Surigao del Sur," Esperon said.

He thanked Duterte for the "unceasing support and inspired leadership" in the campaign to end the insurgency.

"With the impending collapse of the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA) the Duterte administration stands at the cusp of leaving its legacy of a conflict-free and development-ready Philippines," he added.

The presidential visit is expected to be attended by local officials from the region, Cabinet members, national officials, senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and NTF-ELCAC.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171952