NTF-ELCAC FORUM – Members of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) in Northern Mindanao share updates of the whole-of-government approach in the delivery of basic services to far-flung areas in the region, in a Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum on March 18, 2025. (PIA-10 photo)
MindanaoToday.com | End of insurgency in Normin in sight
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The primary objective of a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in Northern Mindanao is within reach this year, a military official said.
Colonel Antonio Dulnuan Jr., commander of the 403rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, in a Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum on Tuesday, March 18, said the New People’s Army (NPA) no longer has mass-based support.
Dulnuan said that from over a thousand NPA combatants in 2019, the number has dropped to only 71, as of February, this year. NTF-ELCAC was created by virtue of Executive Order No. 70 issued on December 4, 2018.
He said that Northern Mindanao may be declared insurgency-free this year, but the whole-of-government approach of NTF-ELCAC must stay in order to sustain the support services that geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA) need.
Assistant Regional Director Yvette Tolentino-Sunga of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), who was also in the forum, said GIDA communities have been provided with roads, potable water, schools, and even housing.
Sunga said that aside from initial financial assistance, “friends rescued” (referring to former rebels) must be provided with job and livelihood-related skills trainings so that they become productive and secure.
She said NTF-ELCAC in the region has already established two housing projects for former rebels at Barangay Dansolihon in Cagayan de Oro and Malaybalay City in Bukidnon. These, she said, were not limited for those from Northern Mindanao, some occupants come from other regions.
Also in the forum was Regional Director Ariel Abragan of the Department of Housing Settlement and Urban Development, who expressed full support in the establishment of housing projects for former rebels.
Abragan shared his personal experience as invited guest in the swearing in of the officers of a home-owners association in Lanao del Norte, composed of former rebels.
In seven years, the national government through the NTF-ELCAC in Northern Mindanao had released over P125 million financial assistance to 2,729 beneficiaries, composed of former rebels and family members.
Last year, the DILG-administered package of assistance to former rebels in the region amounted to P23,596,044, the biggest since 2018, benefitting 495 recipients. Most number of NTF-ELCAC beneficiaries was in 2022 with 570.
Under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) of the national government, former rebels are entitled to; P15 thousand emergency assistance, P50 thousand livelihood assistance, P21 thousand reintegration assistance, and renumeration of firearms turned over.
Sunga said the amount given in exchange of the firearm handed in would depend on the valuation pegged either by the police or the military—type of firearm and its serviceability.
As of February, this year, the National Amnesty Board (NAB) received 126 applications of former rebels from Northern Mindanao. These were authenticated by the Local Amnesty Board Cagayan de Oro (LAB-CDO) earlier. [Uriel Quilinguing/MT]
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