Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas (Facebook)

The Makabayan bloc said on Friday, Nov. 17, that they are in “full support” of a human rights expert’s recommendation to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). 

The NTF-ELCAC was established under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) No. 70, which institutionalized a whole-of-nation approach to attain “inclusive and sustainable peace”. 

However, Gabriela Women’s Partyl-list Rep. Arlene Brosas claimed that instead of peace, more cases of harassment, surveillance, and killings of progressive individuals have taken place. 

“Kahit yung mga celebrities, mga ordinaryong individuals, tinarget ng NTF-ELCAC. Maging kami sa Gabriela Women’s Party, tinarget na rin ng terror-tagging agency na ito,” she said in a virtual press conference Friday. 

(Even celebrities, ordinary individuals, were targeted by the NTF-ELCAC. Even us in the Gabriela Women's Party have been targeted by this terror-tagging agency.) 

“In fact, kinasuhan pa kami ng trumped-up charges at pinapa-disqualify sa Comelec (Commission on Elections) para ma-disenfranchise ang sektor ng kababaihan na aming kinakatawan sa Kongreso,” Brosas noted. 

(In fact, we have been charged with trumped-up charges and were being disqualified from the Comelec to disenfranchise the women's sector that we represent in Congress.) 

In a briefing on Wednesday, United Nations (UN) special rapporteur Ian Fry urged the Philippine government to disband the anti-communist agency over alleged human rights violations. 

The NTF-ELCAC previously accused Gabriela of being funded by a foreign entity, but the Comelec found “no reasonable connection” between Gabriela and the supposed funder. 

Several human rights groups have called out the anti-communist agency over alleged involvement in illegal arrests, seizures, harassment, and killings. 

Another Makabayan member, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel, claimed that “The NTF-ELCAC has rejected any impartial investigations on the matter." 

“This task force does not take criticism and is not accountable for any violations made. NTF-ELCAC enjoys impunity not because the government is losing control of NTF-ELCAC, but because the NTF-ELCAC is controlling the government through its twisted whole-of-nation approach to counter-insurgency,” he said. 

The Makabayan bloc has called on their colleagues in Congress to redirect the budget of the agency in the 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) into social services, education, and health. 

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro branded the funding for the NTF-ELCAC as “pork barrel”. 

“Nagiging pork barrel din ito ng mga generals at iba pang mga nagpapatupad ng NTF-ELCAC dahil discretion nila, hindi rin natin maintindihan yung kanilang mga criteria ng pagsasabi kung ano ba ‘yung insurgency-free, ano ba dito yong mga peaceful na mga barangay, etc. Ito ay nagsisilbing pork na rin,” Castro said. 

(It also becomes a pork barrel for the generals and others who are implementing the NTF-ELCAC because it is their discretion, we also do not understand their criteria for saying what is insurgency-free, what are these peaceful barangays, etc. It also serves as pork.) -Dexter Barro II