National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict

National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict
Task force overview
FormedDecember 4, 2018; 5 years ago (2018-12-04)
JurisdictionPhilippines
Task force executives
Parent departmentOffice of the President
Key document
  • Executive Order No. 70, s. 2018
Websitewww.ntfelcac.org

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is a task force organized by the government of the Philippines to respond and raise awareness to the ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines.

Background

Executive Order No. 70 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on December 4, 2018

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) was formed on December 4, 2018, pursuant to Executive Order No. 70 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte which institutionalized the government's "whole-of-nation" approach in tackling the ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines led by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA). The "whole-of-nation" approach is contrasted to prior policy which favored irregular peace talks with communist rebels. The executive order was announced to the public on December 10.

The formation of the NTF-ELCAC followed the formal termination of peace talks between the Philippine government and the NPA when President Rodrigo Duterte issued Presidential Proclamation 360 on November 23, 2017, citing continued attacks by the NPA despite the then ongoing peace negotiations. The CPP and NPA were likewise formally designated as terrorist organizations by the government.

Composition

The NTF-ELCAC is composed of 12 operational clusters or lines of effort administered by various relevant government agencies:

  • Basic Services Cluster
  • E-CLIP and Amnesty Program Cluster
  • Infrastructure, Resource Management and Employment Cluster
  • International Engagement Cluster
  • Legal Cooperation Cluster
  • Local Government Empowerment Cluster
  • Localized Peace Engagement Cluster
  • Peace, Law Enforcement and Development Support Cluster
  • Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Empowerment Cluster
  • Sectoral Unification, Capacity Building Empowerment and Mobilization Cluster
  • Situational Awareness and Knowledge Management Cluster
  • Strategic Communication Cluster

Regional (RTF-ELCAC), provincial (PTF-ELCAC), city (CTF-ELCAC), municipality (MTF-ELCAC), and barangay (BTF-ELCAC) task forces have been formed to implement at the local level the NTF-ELCAC's whole-of-nation approach.

Activities and programs

President Rodrigo Duterte (foreground, 3rd from right) presides over a meeting with the NTF-ELCAC at the Malacañan Palace on April 15, 2019

Campaign against suspected front organizations

The NTF-ELCAC maintains a campaign against the ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines, as well as against groups that it claims to be front organizations of the communist group. It maintains that it has the duty to warn the public against "dubious groups with links to communist terrorist organizations". The task force's allegations has been criticized as an act of "red-tagging". The NTF-ELCAC on its part falsely claim that the term "red-tagging" was invented by the CPP-NPA and the usage of such term is a move to discredit the task force's allegations.

Among the notable groups the NTF-ELCAC has alleged to be a communist rebel front is the Makabayan bloc, whose members were elected to the House of Representatives. The allegations of the NTF-ELCAC is an "official stance" of the task force. The NTF-ELCAC also made the same accusation against left-wing human rights organization Karapatan, which filed a lawsuit against the task force for violations against Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity in response.

The NTF-ELCAC's also conducted background checks on organizers of community pantries set up by volunteers as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic for possible links to the CPP-NPA, which led to calls to defund the NTC-ELCAC.

Barangay Development Program

The Barangay Development Program (BDP) is a socioeconomic program of the NTF-ELCAC for barangays that have been deemed free from communist rebel influence by the national government. It is described by the task force as an approach to address the root causes of insurgency such as "hunger, disease, poverty, injustice and hopelessness" so that the communities would be less susceptible to fall under the influence of the communist insurgents. The CPP has downplayed the BDP, calling it a "band-aid solution" and believed that the program does not satisfy the "fundamental demand for genuine land reform and the clamor for respect of ancestral lands".

Balik Loob Program

The Balik Loob Program provides a mechanism for former communist rebels who surrendered to the government to reintegrate to mainstream society.

Administration

The NTF-ELCAC was created as a government organization under the Office of the President of the Philippines with the Philippine president serving as its chairman, and the National Security Advisor as its vice chairman. Other members include:

Secretaries of the following executive departments
Other

Communications

The NTF-ELCAC has eight spokespersons, each dedicated to certain matter/s. Prior to May 10, 2021, the task force only had two spokespersons. There are plans to have additional spokespersons to cover each of the Philippines' regions.

NTF-ELCAC Spokespersons
Official Official designations and agency Coverage
Vacant n/a Security Sector Operations
Lorraine Marie Badoy Undersecretary, New Media and External Affairs

Presidential Communications Operations Office

Social Media Affairs, Sectoral Concerns
Jonathan Malaya Undersecretary, Plans, Public Affairs and Communication

Department of the Interior and Local Government

Local Government Affairs, Barangay Development Program
Severo Catura Undersecretary, Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat International Affairs, Peace Process, Human Rights Concerns
Jose Joel Sy Egco Undersecretary, Presidential Task Force on Media Security Mass Media Engagement, Fact-Checker
Vacant n/a NTF-ELCAC Public Affairs and Information Youth Concerns
Marlon Bosantog Regional Director, Cordillera Autonomous Region

Regional Director, Caraga Region National Commission on Indigenous Peoples

Legal Affairs, Indigenous Peoples Concerns
Gaye Florendo National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Assistant spokesperson on NTF-ELCAC Public Affairs and on Indigenous Peoples Concerns

Administrative and criminal complaints

Some officials who served under the NTF-ELCAC face complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Elections. In December 2020, Karapatan alleged in a complaint that Duterte supporter and NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy-Partosa is criminally and administratively liable for her "persistent, relentless and malicious red-tagging and vilification" of Karapatan. Also named in the complaint was then-NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade.

In March 2022, left-wing partylist members Kabataan Rep. Sarah Jane Elago, GABRIELA Rep. Arlene Brosas, and ACT Rep. France Castro filed criminal complaints against Badoy and nine other NTF-ELCAC executives for electioneering and allegedly violating the Omnibus Election Code. The complaints cited two separate statements issued by the NTF-ELCAC: On March 14, Badoy alleged that presidential candidate Leni Robredo made a pact with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF); On March 21, Badoy released a statement alleging that Kabataan, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers, and Gabriela are "urban operatives" of the CPP-NPA-NDF. The complaint contends that the statements constitute "political advertisement" or "election propaganda".

Journalist and Nobel Prize laureate Maria Ressa filed in 2022 an administrative complaint against Badoy at the Office of the Ombudsman over posts calling Ressa a "sociopath" and a "master bullshitter". The complaint alleges that Badoy’s posts violated the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials. The complaint contends that the posts were "malicious and defamatory remarks which transgress boundaries of professional decorum and protocol".

In 2022, the National Union of People's Lawyers filed a motion with the Court of Appeals to declare Badoy in contempt of court after Badoy interviewed on SMNI retired army general Jovito Palparan, who was convicted of kidnapping and illegal detention in 2018.

Calls to defund or abolish

In 2021, Philippine senators suggested to defund the NTF-ELCAC. Parlade afterwards called the senators stupid for which he was censured by the Senate.

In 2021, labor leader Leody de Guzman called for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC.

In November 2023, the United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change Ian Fry called for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC and the repeal of the Philippine Anti-Terror Law. Fry said that the NTF-ELCAC's red-tagging of environmental human rights defenders and Indigenous peoples violates the rights to life and free expression. Council of Leaders for Peace Initiatives and other peace advocacy groups supported the call to abolish the NTF-ELCAC, while the NTF-ELCAC vice chair Eduardo Año rejected the call deeming the UNSCR report "incomplete" inviting the UNSR to have "clarificatory engagement" with the NTF-ELCAC.


This page was last updated at 2024-01-28 11:08 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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