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RTF-ELCAC hails 126 LGUs in C. Visayas for condemning CPP-NPA

By John Rey Saavedra

March 5, 2020, 12:34 pm

<p><strong>PERSONA NON GRATA.</strong> Department of the Interior and Local Government-7 (DILG-7) regional director Leocadio Trovela (2nd from right) is shown reporting to the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) that 126 of 136 local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas have passed resolutions declaring the CPP-NPA as persona non grata. Trovela said the remaining eight municipalities and two cities in Cebu are yet to pass their respective resolutions. <em>(Photo courtesy of DILG-7)</em></p>

PERSONA NON GRATA. Department of the Interior and Local Government-7 (DILG-7) regional director Leocadio Trovela (2nd from right) is shown reporting to the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) that 126 of 136 local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas have passed resolutions declaring the CPP-NPA as persona non grata. Trovela said the remaining eight municipalities and two cities in Cebu are yet to pass their respective resolutions. (Photo courtesy of DILG-7)

CEBU CITY – The Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) in Central Visayas has commended the 126 local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas for passing resolutions declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) persona non grata.

Lawyer Leocadio Trovela, regional director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Region 7, on Wednesday said he is optimistic that the remaining 10 of all 136 LGUs in the region will be able to pass resolutions declaring the communist terrorist group as unwelcome in their places by end of April.

The province of Negros Oriental where insurgency remains a threat to the locals, has hit the 100 percent mark as all 19 municipal and six city councils were able to pass a resolution condemning the CPP-NPA, Trovela said.

He said all the municipalities and cities in Bohol and Siquijor were also able to pass their resolutions declaring the communist party and its armed wing persona non grata.

The 10 LGUs in Cebu province are yet to pass their respective measures, he said.

These LGUs include the municipalities of Aloguinsan, Argao, Barili, Consolacion, Madridejos, San Remigio, Tabuelan and the cities of Talisay and Danao.

“Meron na tayong guidance sa (We already have a guidance with the) PNP (Philippine National Police) to collaborate with the DILG to get the commitment of 10 LGUs in Cebu to submit their resolutions. I have already talked to the Provincial Director of the Cebu PNP,” Trovela said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.

Fayette Riñen, chief of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA-7) who heads the RTF-ELCAC information cluster, said in a statement posted on their website that Police Regional Office (PRO-7) regional director, Brig. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro promised to direct his chiefs of police to personally coordinate with the 10 LGUs to fast track the passage of their respective resolutions.

Trovela said representatives to the regional task force agreed during the 1st Quarter Regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Center 7 and Peace, Law Enforcement and Development Support (PLEDS) Cluster Meeting in Cebu to hang tarpaulins carrying the body of the resolutions from each LGU in public places.

“Para merong impact. Makita ng taumbayan na ang bayan nila ay para sa kapayapaan at hindi welcome ang NPA dito (So that there’s an impact. The people would see that their own town is for peace and that the NPA is not welcome in their place),” he said.

A few municipalities like Asturias, a mid-north town in Cebu known as NPA-infested in the 1980s, have already hung tarpaulins carrying the logo of the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the body of their resolutions condemning the CPP-NPA.

Augusto Marquez Jr., regional director of the National Intelligence and Coordinating Agency (NICA-7), concurred with the idea to hang tarpaulins of persona non grata resolutions of LGUs.

Marquez added that NICA-7 is also monitoring the active support of LGUs to the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte on ending local communist armed conflict through the whole-of-nation approach. (PNA)

 

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