By Priam Nepomuceno/PNA
MANILA — Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Benjamin Madrigal said he is looking forward to the operationalization of Executive Order (EO) 70, or the “National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict”, which will immensely help the government in its ongoing anti-insurgency campaign.
In a statement forwarded to reporters on Thursday, the AFP chief stressed the need for all government agencies — both national and local government units — to come together to totally eradicate the root causes of conflict and violence.
“We have made significant progress and have headways in our campaign to end insurgency, but to reach what we can call a complete victory, we need to create communities that are conflict-resilient and we need local and national government agencies to attain this,” he added.
In 2018, consolidated data from ground units of the AFP indicate a total of 12,017 Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) members and supporters have been neutralized.
The NPA, the CPP’s armed wing, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
The figure includes 130 that were killed and 264 that were apprehended in legitimate security and law enforcement operations.
A total of 11,623 have also surrendered including 1,227 regular NPA fighters. AFP units also confiscated 1,920 assorted firearms and seized 316 enemy encampments.
Madrigal added that a series of meetings and plannings is ongoing to operationalize EO 70 and create a “National Peace Framework” anchored on the “Whole-of-Nation” approach institutionalized as a national policy.
“Aside from focusing on our enemies, we also have to look at our people and communities through a people-centered strategy to make our communities resilient from communist recruitment, propaganda, and exploitation,” the AFP chief emphasized.
