TACLOBAN CITY– Major General Camilo Ligayo, the commanding officer of the 8th Infantry Division, claimed that the region is doing ‘fairly well’ on the implementation of the anti-insurgency program of the government.
Ligayo made this claim during a meeting attended by National Security Sec. Clarita Carlos at the regional headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Palo, Leyte on October 26.
“Although we haven’t had developed a standard formula to assess the transformation, we can only give a light assessment. We are progressing in the development and hopefully, we can take off from the very good achievement of the ELCAC program,” he said.
“We say that we did fairly because we have a good performance of the program in the region,” Ligayo added.
He, however, admitted that they still have to do better to make the implementation of the anti-insurgency program is contained under the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).
For her part, Imelda Bonifacio, who is the regional manager of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process, said that the high number of rebels deciding to surrender to the folds of the law, construction of various infrastructure projects in areas previously considered to be under the influence of the communist armed group, the New People’s Army (NPA), among others, are indications that the government is winning the battle.
Meanwhile, Sec. Carlos called on the media to help in the dissemination of the development in the society thru the ELCAC program.
She ordered the task force to make media as part of the process by sharing facts and information regarding the program.
Carlos came to Tacloban for a meeting with the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist armed Conflict for assessment and continuous funding for the program, especially the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP).
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict is a task force organized during the administration of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte aims to end the country’s insurgency problem through the ‘whole-of-nation approach.’
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
