TACLOBAN CITY (PIA) – The army’s 8th Infantry Division has expressed confidence that with or without the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), collaborating mechanism between government agencies that have paved way for peace and security in the region will still remain.
Lt. Col. Joemar Buban, 8ID assistant chief of staff for Civil Military Operations said during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas on Tuesday, the Joint Regional Task Force 8 ELCAC has already attained strategic victory over the communist insurgents in the region.
In diminishing their armed capability and dismantling their guerilla fronts, the campaign is now on a level that it has managed to establish an environment that is conducive for sustainable development and progress, Lt. Col. Buban said.
“What we need now is the intervention from other government agencies. Their specific mandates still align with our mission to transform conflict-affected villages into convergence areas of development,” Buban said.
The army CMO chief added the security landscape in the region has transformed largely due to the strategies implemented under the campaign and that whether the task force ceases to exist or not, the coordinating mechanism established and the transformation plan crafted in every local government unit will continue.
The army’s recent report revealed that the remaining communist rebels are in the dwindling count of 119 scattered in the hinterlands of Samar, Southern Leyte and some parts of Leyte.
Meanwhile, Imelda C. Bonifacio, program manager of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU), said the Task Force ELCAC, created to end local communist armed conflict, can now change its pursuit towards peace, reconciliation and unity as evidenced by the establishment of Local Amnesty Boards.
“We have observed that communities are now ready to move on with development. Previously, they were called conflict-affected but now they are called peace and development-ready communities,” Bonifacio said.
The Gabriela women’s party-list is asking for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC, which was created through Executive Order No. 70 by the former administration to end communist insurgency. (ACR/PIA Leyte)
