MANILA — The launching of the new anti-insurgency program in Northern Mindanao on Friday, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar expressed confidence that the Duterte administration will be able to address poverty in the region.
Andanar, designated Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) in Region 10, said Northern Mindanao is the first region to launch a banner program called Convergence Areas for Peace and Development (CAPDev) which seeks to address the root causes of internal armed conflict and insurgency.
“The purpose of this is to accelerate the development of our barangays here in Region 10 — to end the local communist armed conflict,” Andanar said in a meeting with members of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club on Thursday.
“The CORDS here in Region 10 is one of the most active CORDS in the entire country. Tomorrow will be the first time that the CORDS will be meeting and presiding both the Regional Development Council (RDC), and Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC),” he added.
CAPDev aims to promote the establishment of durable peace and development while empowering communities in the priority focus areas through peace building and reconciliation, socio-economic transformation, good governance, and institution building.
The launch in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon will be joined by the the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) co-chair Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo M. Año, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Bautista, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Region 10 Director Mylah Faye Aurora B. Cariño, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno, Bukidnon Governor Jose Maria Zubiri Jr., and Regional Task Force- ELCAC chair Brig. General Franco Nemecio M. Gacal.
Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte approved an executive order (EO) formalizing the designation of Cabinet secretaries as CORDS heads.
Under the CORDS initiative, Cabinet members may be assigned to discharge their functions, duties, and responsibilities in a particular region, in addition to their regular duties.
CORDS, an offshoot of the NTF-ELCAC, takes on a whole-of-nation approach to address the issues of insurgency in the country.
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