President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has ordered the government to sustain its efforts to encourage communist insurgents to surrender.
Rebels returning to the fold of the law, Marcos said, would spur rural development.
During the 2nd National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) executive committee meeting in Malacañang, the President said that change will happen when people have jobs and livelihood, and this could be realized through the continuing agrarian reform program and other poverty alleviation efforts of the government.
He told the committee to not be complacent in this effort, saying "let us not sit on our laurels."
“Nakalagay naman sa batas iyan (it's in the law), to specify priorities that will include those rebel returnees who have chosen to surrender and have decided to return to the fold of the law. These are all good efforts that we have to continue, (and) as I said, let us not sit on our laurels,” Marcos said in the meeting held on Thursday, Aug. 31.
“Let us continue to come up with a responsive action so that although nagbago na ang ating trabaho nang kaunti (our job has changed), it changes from what it was before, we must continue to support the idea behind this na papabalikin nga natin ang mga nagrerebelde na bumalik sa lipunan (to encourage rebels to return to the society)," Marcos added.
The Chief Executive also led the swearing in rites for the Cabinet Officers for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) in Malacañang on the same day.
Established under Executive Order (EO) No. 70, s. 2018, the NTF-ELCAC operationalizes the whole-of-nation approach in defeating local communist terrorist groups and obtaining sustainable and inclusive peace throughout the Philippines.
At the local level, the regional task force (RTF)-ELCAC is a convergence of the Regional Development Council (RDC) and Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOCs) co-chaired by the RDC and RPOC chairs, with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) acting jointly as its Secretariat.
The CORDS, on the other hand, was designated to lead the Joint RTFs and oversee peace and development efforts in every region and to provide assistance in articulating the region’s concerns and perceptions to the rest of the Cabinet and other agencies.
In June 2023, the Executive Secretary, by authority of the President, approved the designation of the key members of the Cabinet as CORDS.