National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Deputy Director General for Special Concerns Abelardo Villacorta. (PTV Facebook Screengrab)
MANILA – Gathering crucial intelligence against communists’ activities remains among the priorities of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) despite the weakening of the terrorist group’s armed wing.
In an interview over Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing on Thursday, NICA Deputy Director General for Special Concerns Abelardo Villacorta said communist recruitment activities persist, targeting students and the youth sector.
He said the agency, as head of the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) Situational Awareness and Knowledge Management Cluster, focuses on monitoring these attempts to lure the youth to take up arms against the government.
“There are so many of our youth, the students that are being recruited into the CPP-NPA-NDF at kawawa sila, iyong mga pangarap nila, ambisyon nila ay nasisira (their dreams and their ambitions in life are being destroyed) because they are being deceived to join the movement and become members of the NPA,” Villacorta said.
He added that many parents are now cooperating with NICA to help foil the communists' recruitment activities.
“Tumutulong sila sa amin (They help us) in our situational awareness and knowledge management, at napakalaking tulong nila (and they are a big help),” he said.
Previously, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the state forces' relentless operations against communists have been very effective in decimating the active New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla fronts.
As of the latest information from the military, the number of guerrilla fronts of the terrorist group has declined to 11.
Future opportunities
Meanwhile, Task Force Balik Loob (TFBL) chair Undersecretary Angelito De Leon outlined future opportunities for former rebels and former violent extremists during the road mapping Workshop of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program or E-CLIP and Amnesty Program (EAP) Cluster.
"As concurrent Undersecretary for Capability Assessment and Development of the Department of National Defense, De Leon highlighted the pivotal shift in the government’s reintegration strategy that veers away from a military-centric method toward a more comprehensive approach to ending the local communist armed conflict in the Philippines," Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement Thursday.
Citing the gains of the E-CLIP, which began in 2018, De Leon congratulated the lead and partner agencies on the sixth anniversary of the task force for their efforts in helping address the underlying socioeconomic, political, and psychological roots of local armed conflicts.
“The TFBL, on its sixth anniversary, will be more active and we will look for opportunities for us to have convergence mechanisms and how we can help our brothers who will return home,” De Leon said.
He also congratulated the AFP for a job well done in dismantling communist-terrorist guerrilla fronts across the country.
“Imagine when we were still in the active service, we were addressing 89 guerrilla fronts. Especially, they were saying that the last fight would be in Compostela Valley or Samar. But now, I'm happy to note that these are thriving communities already. And we can see that peace will be restored. So once again, to TFBL, Happy 6th Anniversary,” De Leon said.
The road mapping workshop was conducted to assess and address the gaps in the implementation of the E-CLIP, and craft a new implementation plan that will set the direction of both government programs for 2024-2028 under the umbrella of the NTF-ELCAC. It also aims to sustain the coordination and collaboration of all agencies and stakeholders to ensure the effectiveness of efforts towards sustainable peace development. (with reports from Priam F. Nepomuceno/PNA)
