To cascade down to the barangay level the fullest appreciation on the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 70, Region 7’s Joint Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (JRTF-ELCAC) kicked off the Provincial/HUC Levelling sessions on Monday, June 21, via Zoom and Facebook private group.
The Bohol Province Levelling, the first of five virtual sessions in Region 7, had gathered 1,600 attendees. Barangay officials, provincial, city and municipal ELCAC task force members graced the activity.
Resource persons from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG-7), Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) discussed barangay development program, sectoral mobilization, orientation and updates on EO 70, and NCIP & ICCs/IPs resiliency.
National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and National Strategic Resource Group tackled the topic of CTG’s framework. PTF-Bohol ELCAC also presented its significant accomplishments per cluster, while the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-7) presented the synthesis.
Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino of OPAV, Usec Rufino S. Lopez Jr. and Bohol Province Governor Arthur Yap gave messages to the participants.
Sec. Dino, who’s also a Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security-7, said the levelling is an effort to further expand the whole-of-nation approach of ELCAC down to the local level.
For his part, Gov. Yap said in his welcome remarks that even amidst COVID-19 pandemic, there is still an issue of terrorism/ criminal banditry in Bohol that needs to be addressed with active support of Punong Barangays, Sangguniang Barangay members and Barangay Tanods.
In a message, NTF lauded Bohol PFT-ELCAC for the very commendable accomplishments and contribution to the goal to end the local communists armed conflict in Bohol Province.
After Bohol, the next levelling session is for Cebu Province which is happening today, while Siquijor, Negros Oriental and highly-urbanized cities of Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu are set on June 30 to July 2.
EO 70, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in December 2018, aims to address the root causes of insurgency to end locally armed conflict in the countryside.