MANILA, Philippines — Newly appointed Armed Forces of the Philippines, AFP, chief Lt. Gen. Andres Centino has directed AFP commanders to complete the challenge of ending the country’s decades-old insurgency problem before President Duterte steps down in June next year.
Holding his first command conference at Camp Aguinaldo on Saturday, Centino reminded AFP officers of Duterte’s order to end all local armed conflicts within his term, particularly that involving the New People’s Army (NPA), which has been tagged by the government as a communist terrorist group.
Centino noted that Executive Order 70, which mandates a multi-dimensional, whole-of-nation approach to address local communist insurgency, has helped the military focus on its core function of protecting the people.
Under EO 70, he said local government units and other agencies took over the non-military socio-economic aspects of the counter-insurgency efforts.
“The enemies of the state are losing support, as we have brought back the trust and confidence of the people to the government. EO 70 primed us and the entire government system to finish this social ill once and for all. Within the remaining seven months of our peace and security campaign, we have to further increase our tempo to make sure that we will accomplish the task given by the President,” said Centino, who assumed the top AFP post on Friday.
Centino lauded field commanders for the series of battle victories and successful efforts against armed groups, including the operations against Daulah Islamiyah leader Salahuddin Hassan on Oct. 29 and NPA leader Jorge Madlos on Oct. 30.
Meanwhile, the camp of Vice President Leni Robredo questioned the leadership of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), saying the group only created more enemies.
In reaction to an NTF-ELCAC statement that branded Robredo as an obstructionist, lawyer Barry Gutierrez said it is the group and its leadership that has problems.
He cited a Senate budget hearing where it was found that NTF-ELCAC only completed a few of its more than 2,000 projects – Pia Lee-Brago
