SINCE former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte established the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the Philippine government has achieved numerous feats against local terrorist groups (LTGs) and communist terrorist groups (CTGs).
Due to the government’s whole-of-nation approach in addressing armed conflict, thousands of members of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), have returned to the fold of the law.
In an interview, Col. Louie Dema-ala, spokesperson of the Philippine Army, said that just this year, they have already neutralized over 600 rebels, and recovered hundreds of firearms.
“From January to June 2024, the Philippine Army recorded 608 LTGs and CTGs neutralized. We recovered 799 firearms,” said Col. Louie Dema-ala, Spokesperson, PA.
“Out of the 608 neutralized LTGs and CTGs, 458 surrendered. The rest were either killed or captured during that period,” he added.
As time goes by, the forces of the CTGs in the Philippines continue to weaken. Currently, the Army is monitoring only seven weakened guerrilla fronts and expects to dismantle these within the year.
“As of now, recently with the pronouncement of the Chief of Staff, by the second quarter, we have seven weakened guerrilla fronts. So those are what we are looking at now, hoping to dismantle them this year,” said Dema-ala.
“Our focus now is the Central front and Southern Panay front in the Negros area. In the north, it’s Central Luzon and Isabela, Cagayan,” he added.
To prevent the return of CTGs to communities they previously terrorized, the Philippine government continues to implement programs that assist citizens, especially in remote areas.
“The programs under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict are very important because we need to continuously sustain the gains in the areas we previously secured to prevent their return,” he also added.
