Duterte wants gov’t to focus on ‘conflict-prone communities’ to end insurgency

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has stressed the need to focus on “conflict-prone” communities as his government eyes the end of the decades-old communist insurgency in the Philippines.

Duterte made the call during a joint command conference with the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and state forces at Malacañang on Monday, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. said in a statement Tuesday.

READ: Duterte, task force to end communist insurgency to meet Monday

Esperon said the President, during the meeting, “stressed the need to focus on conflict-prone communities, as he called on those present to ensure that the roots of the communist insurgency would be addressed through enhanced programs and harmonized efforts in providing for basic needs such as housing, water, education, and health.”

“To achieve this end, the cutting edge tool called the Retooled Community Support Program is now being implemented in areas with vulnerable populations,” Esperon noted.

Through the RCSP, the delivery of basic services is now improved through consultations with, and recommendations by, the community, he added.

Duterte’s security adviser also said that the chief executive ended the session “by prodding local governments for greater participation in the NTF-ELCAC for future generations.”

The meeting came after the raid of the offices of progressive and party-list organizations, which the government tagged as alleged fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing New People’s Army, in Negros Occidental and in Tondo, Manila.

Among those offices raided by joint elements of AFP and PNP belong to Bayan Muna, Gabriela, and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or Bayan.

The groups have condemned the raids and claimed that authorities planted evidence during the operations.

Edited by JE