END LOCAL INSURGENCY. Officials of Valenzuela City including from its 33 barangays pledge commitment to help the National Task Force To End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) at the Valenzuela City Center for the Performing Arts (VCCPA) auditorium on Wednesday (Feb. 17, 2021). Local officials made the commitment through the creation of a City and Barangay Task Force on ELCAC. (Contributed photo from Valenzuela PIO)
MANILA – The city government of Valenzuela has revved up its efforts supporting the national government's programs to end the communist insurgency in the country.
The city government and its 33 barangays have committed to effectively address the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) concerns and pledged to support the National Task Force To End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC).
On Wednesday, the Valenzuela government launched the creation of a 'City and Barangay Task Force on ELCAC', which aimed at adopting principles and implement policies, plans, and programs that will address all insurgency-related issues and terrorist threats.
The newly created local task force on ELCAC is expected to lead localized peace engagements in accordance with the nation’s peace and development agenda.
The city government said the establishment of the local task force on ELCAC signifies the city's compliance with the Executive Order (EO) No. 70 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Dec. 10, 2018 to institutionalize the whole-of-nation approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace, creating the NTF-ELCAC, and directing the adoption of a national peace framework.
The Valenzuela's ELCAC task force has vowed to pay attention to the primary reason of insurgency, internal disturbances and tensions, and other armed conflicts and threats.
During the launch, Col. Julius C. Suriben, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office’s (NCRPO) Regional Community Affairs and Development Division (RCADD), said most of the cities in the NCR are being targeted by the communist groups for infiltration and recruitment of new members.
Suriben said having a dynamic stance to stem insurgency even at the city or barangay level is important in pushing for ELCAC.
"A proactive city or barangay task force on ELCAC is needed in delivering prompt response and taking quick, proper, and correct steps to address the issue of CTGs," he said during the Barangay Peace and Order Summit in Valenzuela on Wednesday.
He added that the local task forces on ELCAC could prevent the left-leaning organizations from recruiting more members for the communist groups, particularly for the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
"Also, the ELCAC task force can strengthen the community to prevent and suppress the destructive work of the left," Suriben said. "Lastly, the task force can also pave the way for the city or barangay to achieve sustainable development and for constituents to live stable, comfortable, and secure lives."
Meanwhile, Valenzuela City Vice Mayor Lorie Natividad-Borja thanked the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for implementing local ELCAC programs.
Borja said the city government is committed to support the government’s peace-keeping initiatives.
“Naniniwala kami na walang siyudad na magiging patuloy na maunlad kung magulo at walang katahimikan, kaya po dito sa siyudad ng Valenzuela, sa pangunguna po ni Mayor Rex Gatchalian, umasa po kayo sa [aming] patuloy na pagtalima sa [inyong] mga programa upang lalo pa nating mapanatili ang peace and order (We believed that no city will continue to prosper if there are chaos and no peace. So, here in Valenzuela City, through the leadership of Mayor Rex Gatchalian, you can count on our continued adherence to your programs, so that we can further maintain peace and order)," Borja said.
The NTF-ELCAC targets to ensure the efficient and effective implementation of the "whole-of-nation approach" in fighting against terrorism and resolving issues of insurgencies nationwide. (PNA)
