Cordillera RTF ELCAC cluster heads meet wiith CORDS-Cordillera DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista in an interface meeting on May 16, 2024 at the DOTr Central Office.
BAGUIO CITY (PIA) — The Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Cordillera, Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista and the cluster chairpersons of the Cordillera Regional Task Force – Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) had an interface meeting recently for updates on the peace and order, and other concerns in the region.
Department of the Interior and Local Government-CAR Regional Director and RTF-ELCAC Head Secretariat Araceli San Jose, and ELCAC Regional Focal Person Randolph Ligligon provided a briefing on the RTF-ELCAC, including its structure, functions, and significant accomplishments in its campaign against insurgency and terrorism in the Cordillera region.
Heads and representatives of the regional line agencies leading the 2 Clusters of the RTF-ELCAC presented their respective accomplishments and plans.
Presenters were 5ID Commander MGen. Audrey Pasia on Peace, Law Enforcement, and Development Support; National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Regional Director Camilo Balutan on the Situational Awareness and Knowledge Management; Philippine Information Agency-CAR Regional Director Helen Tibaldo on the Strategic Communications; Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Director Christina Umali on Local Peace Engagement; Department of Public Works and Highways -CAR Lawyer Rex Paderes on Infrastructure and Resource Management; and Beverly Pekas of the Department of Agriculture -CAR on Poverty Reduction, Livelihood, and Employment.
The DILG-CAR also presented accomplishments for the clusters on Basic Services; Local Government Empowerment; and Sectoral Unification, Capacity Building, Empowerment, and Mobilization.
PCol. Jeremias Oyawon of the Police Regional Office-Cordillera also presented the RTF-ELCAC Cordillera Operations Center, while an audio visual presentation onaccomplishments of the Legal Cooperation Cluster led by the Department of Justice was shown.
Updates on the implementation of ELCAC flagship programs such as the Support to Barangay Development Programs (SBDP), the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP), and the Capacitating Urban Communities for Peace and Development (CUCPO) were also reported during the meeting held at the DOTr Central Office in San Juan City on May 16, 2024.
Sec. Bautista lauded the RTF-ELCAC’s accomplishments in the Cordillera region, and thanked the different line agencies and local government units for their support in ending the local communist armed conflict, and in promoting the region’s development and progress.
He pledged his full support to the RTF-ELCAC, and committed to working closely with officials in bringing the region’s concerns to the Cabinet for needed actions.
Bautista is set to meet with the Regional Peace and Order Council and the Regional Development Council in June 2024.(JDP/RMC- PIA CAR)
Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Cordillera, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista
