Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte was designated as the newest co-vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as the group eyes to strengthen its counter-insurgency campaign in schools.

( [L-R] PNP Chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., AFP Chief Gen. Andres Centino, OPAPRU Sec. Isidro Purisima, NSA Eduardo Año, NTF-ELCAC Legal Cooperation Cluster Chairperson Justice Angelita Miranda, and NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr. hold a press briefing in Malacañang on May 10, 2023. / Courtesy of NTF-ELCAC)

Duterte's designation was approved during an executive committee (EXECOM) meeting of the NTF-ELCAC on Wednesday, May 10, according to National Security Adviser (NSA) and NTF-ELCAC Vice Chairperson Eduardo Año.

“The NTF-ELCAC EXECOM has approved the designation of Vice President and Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte as Co-Vice Chairperson of the Task Force. Her unstinting commitment to the cause of NTF-ELCAC will undoubtedly be very valuable to the Task Force and we thank her for accepting the challenge,” said Año in a press briefing in Malacañang.

Established in 2018, the NTF-ELCAC was created to institutionalize the government’s “whole-of-nation” approach to end the problem on communist insurgency being waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) for over five decades now.

Under the current administration, the new look task force is led by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as its Chairperson; Año and Duterte as Co-Vice Chairpersons; and retired general Ernesto Torres Jr. as Executive Director.

Año said that Duterte will boost the task force’s efforts in preventing communist groups from recruiting members in educational institutions.

“With the effort of the DepEd Secretary, we have seen that several Salugpungan schools used by the enemies were closed. Through the [Last] Mile Program, these were replaced with school houses that our students need,” he stated, referring to the DepEd program that aims to address the gaps in resources and facilities of schools that are located in geographically isolated and disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas (GIDCA).

He added that the former mayor of Davao City can also share her experiences and best practices in dealing with communist groups to other designated Cabinet Officers for Regional Development and Security (CORDS).

NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr. said the "new look" task force is aligned with Marcos' endeavor to bring unity in the country.

"Before we were warriors for peace but now we are bringers of peace. From that alone, you could see the messaging and the directive of the President to all of us. We have to carry his message and effort for unity, peace and development," Torres said.

The NTF-ELCAC has been accused of perennial red-tagging of individuals who are critical of the government.

"In the past, you might have observed that we are really aggressive in going after the different threats to the society particularly the CPP-NPA because we had 89 guerrilla fronts at the start of 2019," Torres revealed.

So far, authorities have eliminated 67 guerilla fronts out of the total 89 CPP-NPA-NDF fronts since 2016, according to Gen. Andres Centino, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). 

Out of the remaining 22 fronts, only two are considered as “active” while 20 others are already “weakened” due to the neutralization of their leaders and the withdrawal of support from their mass base.

The two active fronts are located in Northern Samar and have a combined force of 2,008 fighters and 1,900 firearms. Meanwhile, the 20 weakened fronts are dispersed nationwide: seven each in Luzon and Visayas, and six in Mindanao.

"Now, with only two remaining active guerrilla fronts, we would have to align our efforts," Torres noted.

Peace talks

Meanwhile, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) Sec. Isidro Purisima clarified that the national government “never abandoned” the peace talks with the CPP-NPA as they still pursue it albeit under a "localized" setting.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte terminated the government’s peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA-NDF after accusing the latter of betrayal. Despite the discussions, reports of attacks perpetrated by communist rebels on state forces persisted at the time.

“The national government never abandoned the peace process. Basically, the NTF-ELCAC is a framework of peace,” he said.

“The way forward for the peace process is localized peace engagement. This is still a nationally directed and centrally supervised [effort] but locally implemented [and] to be led by local government units. That is the way forward as far as local peace engagement is concerned,” he stressed.

This, however, does not mean that the government is not willing to talk to the leaders of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

“They can join us in the localized peace engagement,” Purisima said.