MEMBERS of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) were declared 'persona non grata' or undesirable persons in Central Luzon.
The declaration was made through the joint resolution issued by the Regional Development Council (RDC) and Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) which was made public Friday, July 12, 2019.
Carlito G. Galvez Jr, Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity and designated Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (Cords) for Central Luzon, said the resolutions officially condemned CPP-NPA's unlawful and illegal activities which have been affecting the region.
"As part of the first meeting of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict III (RTF-ELCAC III), we have signed resolutions including a condemnation of the CPP-NPA's unlawful and illegal activities," Galvez said.
Cords, Galvez said, is a mechanism that aims to link regional and sub-regional levels of government to national agencies in order to harmonize peace, development and security efforts, and consequently, formulate solutions to resolve the nation's decade-long insurgency problem.
"Pursuant to Executive Order No. 70 series of 2018 or the whole-of-nation approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace, members of RDC and RPOC have gathered to unite efforts in addressing the communist insurgency, guided by the principle of good governance," Galvez added.
RTF-ELCAC III is under the National Task Force (NTF-ELCAC) which was formed under Executive Order 70.
NTF-ELCAC's role is to provide efficient mechanism and structure for the implementation of the whole-of-nation approach in combating communist insurgency.
"RTF-ELCAC III is focused on the sub-national level in order to swiftly address security, socio-economic and other related problems on the ground," Galvez said.