PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday rejected calls to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which he said had contributed to the success of the government’s campaign against internal security threats.
The President, in an ambush interview in Cagayan de Oro, said he sees no reason to abolish the task force “for now.”
“Iyung pinakamabilis na sagot diyan, no, hindi namin ia-abolish ‘yung NTF-ELCAC… Sa ngayon, kailangan pa rin (The fastest answer to that is, no, we will not abolish NTF-ELCAC… For now, it is still needed),” Marcos said when asked about the calls made by the Karapatan and Human Rights Watch (HRW) to get rid of the task force.
The two human rights groups have also urged the Marcos administration to put an end to the red-tagging of activists and government critics.
Marcos said he would decide on the fate of the NTF-ELCAC once the government successfully clears all barangays in the country of insurgency and completes the amnesty program for rebel returnees.
The President said the government is not involved in red-tagging efforts.
“Ang sinasabi, dahil mayroon raw red-tagging na ginagawa. Hindi naman gobyerno ang gumagawa noon (They are saying that [NTF-ELCAC should should be abolished] because there is red-tagging. [But] the government is not behind this),” Marcos said.
He said that instead of criticizing the government and the NTF-ELCAC, critics should help put an end to the decades-old insurgency problem.
“Imbes na nilalabanan natin, tinutulungan na lang natin at malaki ang naging epekto dito sa pagbawas ng mga internal security threat dahil doon sa NTF-ELCAC (Instead of criticizing the government, they should be helping us and the NTF-ELCAC, which has contributed a lot in reducing internal security threats),” he added.
The President reiterated the government is committed to clearing all barangays of insurgency influence and assisting rebel returnees availing of the amnesty program.
