DU30 CREATES TASK FORCE TO PROMOTE PEACE, END REBELLION

President Duterte has created a national task force in hopes of ending the five-decadeslong armed conflict with the local communist movement.

In issuing Excutive Order No. 70, which he signed on Dec. 4, the President directed the task force to formulate and implement, in coordination with relevant national government agencies and other stakeholders, a national peace framework in the next six months.

The President will chair the task force under the Office of the President, with the national security adviser as vice chair.

Root causes of insurgency

The 20 members of the task force include the secretaries of the interior, justice, defense, public works, budget, finance, agrarian reform, social welfare and education departments.

The national peace framework will, among other tasks, address the root causes of insurgency and other conflicts.

“The framework shall be responsive to local needs and sensitive to realities on the ground,” part of the EO read.

A mechanism for local peace engagements and negotiations with threat groups will also be implemented, it said.

The task force is also mandated to develop plans and measures to enable local chief executives and local peace bodies to engage and facilitate local peace engagements with rebel groups.