NTF-Elcac to transition into unity and peace task force – official

FILE PHOTO: National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya during a press conference in this file photo taken on October 23, 2023 at the National Security Council office. Malaya revealed that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) may transition into the National Task Force on Unity, Peace, and Development. INQUIRER.net file photo / NOY MORCOSO

MANILA, Philippines — The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) may transition into the National Task Force on Unity, Peace, and Development.

National Security Council Assistant Director General and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya revealed this information on Friday, during a press briefing at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City.

According to Malaya, they based their plan on the observation that the New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla fronts had weakened.

“The transition is prompted by two things: first one is the strategic victory over the New People’s Army” and the resumption of peace talks with the communist rebels, he noted.

READ: Group Bayan seeks dismantling of NTF-Elcac

According to Malaya, the task force would focus on areas weakened by communist insurgencies so that insurgencies would not happen again.

“Once the 11 remaining guerrilla fronts have been dismantled, then that will be the signal to transition into the National Task Force on Unity, Peace and Development,” he explained.