INSURGENCY-FREE. Matanao, Davao del Sur Mayor Vincent Fernandez attributes the peace and order of his municipality to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict program of the Duterte Administration. In an interview Tuesday (April 19, 2022), he says the town's 33 barangays are all insurgency-free. (PNA photo by Robinson Ninal Jr.) MATANAO, Davao del Sur - The mayor of this town said the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) would be President Rodrigo Duterte's strongest legacy. In an interview on Tuesday, Mayor Vincent Fernandez said the program has a huge impact on his municipality in terms of peace and order. "Since we are promoting this municipality as a tourism destination, peace and order should be a primary concern. Through this program, we are now insurgency-free," Fernandez said. NTF-ELCAC, a task force organized by the government to respond to and raise awareness of the communist insurgency in
NO TO TERRORISM. Members of various groups convene for a peace rally at the Capitol Compound, Barangay Santo Nino, City of San Fernando in Pampanga on Tuesday (March 29, 2022) to denounce the terrorism of the New People's Army. The participants included former rebels and youth who opposed in the strongest terms the atrocities of the rebel movement and its front organizations. (Photo courtesy of NICA-3) BALER, Aurora - Hundreds of residents of five provinces in Central Luzon, including former rebels and youth, participated in a peace rally in the City of San Fernando to denounce the terroristic activities of the New People's Army (NPA), which marked its 53rd anniversary on Tuesday. "This activity was not the brainchild of us in the government. It was organized by those who themselves were deceived to join the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front) and have been enlightened because they have seen the sincerity of the government in reac
NPA RECRUITER. The body of Chad Booc when it was recovered after an encounter with troops of the 1001st Infantry Brigade in New Bataan, Davao de Oro on Feb. 24, 2022. Booc's former student Rurelyn Bay-ao said Booc was not just a teacher, but a New People's Army leader and recruiter. (Photo courtesy of 10ID) MANILA - Chad Booc is a New People's Army (NPA) leader and recruiter who is responsible for luring children to become warriors, his former student told the media on Monday. During Monday's edition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) virtual press briefing, Rurelyn Bay-ao, a former student of Booc in Salungpungan and Bakwit schools, divulged that contrary to what left-leaning groups have claimed, Booc is not just a teacher but a leader in the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). Bay-ao, who is also a member of an indigenous people (IP) tribe in Talaingod, Davao, said she was taught by
Screengrab photo of Ariane Jane Ramos, alias Marikit, former secretary of a New People's Army guerrilla front during the virtual Laban Kasama ang Bayan program of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) on Monday (Dec. 6, 2021). DAVAO CITY - A former top-ranking leader of the New People's Army (NPA) once deceived by its left-leaning group has urged the public on Monday not to vote for party-list groups under the Makabayan bloc. At a virtual program of Laban Kasama ang Bayan of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), Ariane Jane Ramos, alias Marikit, former secretary of the NPA Guerrilla Front (GF) 55, Sub-Regional Committee 5 (SRC)-Southern Mindanao Regional Command (SMRC), said she believed that party-list groups under the Makabayan bloc cannot win in Southern Mindanao in the upcoming 2022 polls. "One process in order not to allow the presence of NPA is not voting the Makabayan bloc. By that, it would weaken their group," she said. Marikit also pointed out t