ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Senators split on recommendation to abolish NTF-ELCAC

Senators split on recommendation to abolish NTF-ELCAC

Published Feb 2, 2024 08:46 am

Senators on Friday, Feb. 2, gave mixed reactions to the recommendation of United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Irene Khan to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Khan said that this is to "allow for more inclusive peacemaking platforms," with a "genuine whole of nation approach to peace."

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said that he has noticed that NTF-ELCAC funds have been very difficult to liquidate with the Commission on Audit (COA). 

"This is my additional reason for agreeing to its abolition," Pimentel added.

On the other hand, Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero said he disagrees with the UN rapporteur's suggestion and expressed his belief that NTF-ELCAC is an inter-agency task force that seeks to look into and address the root causes of insurgency. 

"Peace talks is a process...NTF ELCAC seeks to provide solutions to deep-seated problems," he added.

Meanwhile, Sen. Nancy Binay said that with recent developments, she believes that the President is more apprised of the insurgency and matters relating to national security. 

"Maliban sa mga naging isyu tulad ng red-tagging, sa ngayon, baka pwedeng tanungin ang Department of Interiof and Local Government kung may value ba ang task force sa usapin ng pagpapababa ng insurgency and internal threats sa nakalipas na mga taon (Aside from the issue on red-ragging, for now, maybe we can ask the DILG if there is value in the task force regarding the issue of lowering insurgency and internal threats in the past year)," she said.

"Alam naman natin na yung (We all know that the) nature ng (of) [the] task force is temporary, and it's up to the President to take note of her (Khan) suggestion at i-consider yan (consider it) as a gesture of goodwill," she added.

What everyone wants, according to Binay is to have an all-inclusive and sustainable peace.

Khan said Friday, Feb. 2, that the task force's abolition "will not only address some of the most critical drivers of red tagging, but it will also allow" the Marcos administration to modernize peace-building approaches based on the changing political landscape.

Her recommendation stemmed from her assessment that the government's commitment to protect its people from terrorism would sometimes lead to the "vilification" of individuals, such as activists, who have legitimate concerns as well as the "distrust" between the state and the civil society.

National Security Council Assistant Director General and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya explained that given the two supervening events— the strategic victory over the New People’s Army (NPA) and the exploratory peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA- National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF)— "it would not be proper at this time to abolish the National Task Force ELCAC."

Related Tags

Senator Chiz Escudero NTF-ELCAC Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III Nancy Binay National Task Force to End Local Communist Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.