PEACE IN REGION 10. President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his speech in Cagayan de Oro City on Friday (March 5, 2021), capping the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict's accomplishment in Northern Mindanao. The Army's 4th Infantry Division reported that six in 10 fighters of the New Peoples Army have been identified since the anti-insurgency body was created in late 2018 through Executive Order 70. (PNA photo by Nef Luczon)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY--The identities of six in 10 communist New Peoples Army (NPA) combatants in Northern Mindanao are already known to government authorities, the chief of the Army's 4th Infantry Division (4ID) said.
In a report delivered during the Joint Meeting of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and Regional Task Force ELCAC with President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Friday afternoon here, Maj. Gen. Andres Centino said the identification of NPA personalities in the region has assisted the military to convince combatants to surrender and pursue rebellion if they resist.
Since NTF-ELCAC was formed through Executive Order (EO 70) in 2018, Centino said 4ID managed to profile 478 of 820 active-duty NPA fighters.
He attributed this to an improved database, which also helped in the discovery of the burial sites of rebels slain by their own comrades so that their bodies could be exhumed and returned to their respective families.
"Before, most of these rebels are known through their aliases, but after (the creation of NTF-ELCAC), we were able to know their real names, and we were able to trace their whereabouts," Centino said.
The 4ID's jurisdiction partly covers provinces of Region 10 and Caraga region.
Centino said EO 70, which seeks to institutionalize the "whole of government approach" in ending local communist armed conflict, the military managed to dismantle three rebel fronts and weakened another--mostly in Bukidnon areas.
The intensified anti-insurgency initiatives have also led to the clearing of 196 barangays in Region 10 from the presence of rebels and communist fronts.
Through Northern Mindanao's ELCAC, the government also spent at least PHP44.3 million as financial incentives for rebel surrenderers under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.
Meanwhile, Communications Secretary Jose Ruperto Andanar said the convergence of all sectors to confront the communist insurgency has led to accelerated economic growth for Region 10.
“The coming together of stakeholders, and the transformation into peaceful and productive communities were made possible with the implementation of CAPDev (Convergence Areas for Peace and Development), our enabling umbrella program that has been institutionalized at all levels of governance,” Andanar, who is also the Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) in Region, said.
National Security Adviser Sec. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. underscored local government officials and national agencies' contribution in ending the local communist armed conflict.
"We start this to collectively battle the pandemic, to ensure peace and safety for our people in northern Mindanao and Mindanao as a whole," Esperon said. (PNA)
