Imee Marcos rejects call to scrap NTF-Elcac

Sen. Imee Marcos —Senate PRIB / file photo

Sen. Imee Marcos on Sunday scoffed at what she labeled as a “supremely presumptuous” call of United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan to dismantle the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).

“After a mere 10 days in the Philippines, during which she never visited the NTF barangays but only met a chosen few witnesses, she has the knowledge and the right to tell the Philippine government what to do?” Marcos said in a statement.

“Not only are these foreigners meddlesome and out of their depth, she has also threatened that the Philippines’ ‘ambitious’ plan to lead the UN Commission on the Status of Women and obtain a seat on the UN Security Council depends on conforming with her ‘findings.’ Why exactly did we invite her anyway?” she added.

Khan, during a press briefing at the end of her 10-day visit on Friday, called on the Philippine government to scrap the NTF-Elcac. She said it was created in a “different context” six years ago, making it “outdated.”

READ: Mixed reactions from senators on proposed NTF-Elcac abolition

“Thousands of rebels have peacefully returned to the fold of the law. The government has practically won against the communist insurgency, with only about 1,800 rebels left, according to our military and police,” Marcos said.

“It is important that we maintain the NTF-Elcac’s presence and strengthen its mandate to continue the peaceful rehabilitation of rebel returnees,” the senator added. INQ