Retards in the Government 218

  It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.

https://www.panaynews.net/ombudsman-suspends-calumpang-kap-for-simple-misconduct/

The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas suspended punong barangay Roberto Niño Jr. of Calumpang, Molo district for one month for simple misconduct. 

Niño’s suspension stemmed from appointing Geraldine Blanco as barangay secretary despite her being supposedly not officially a resident of Calumpang at the time she was appointed. Such was a violation of Republic Act 7610, or the Local Government Code, according to the Ombudsman. 

In his defense, Niño denied the charges. While admitting that he indeed appointed Blanco as barangay secretary, he asserted that the latter was residing in Ciudad de Iloilo Subdivision, Zone 8 of their barangay, and this was known to him prior to appointing her as such. 

Niño further raised the fact that the barangay council concurred with his appointment of Blanco. 

However, according to the Ombudsman, Blanco may now be actually residing in Calumpang and her residency therein may very well have started on Jan. 20, 2018 prior to her appointment as barangay secretary on July 1, 2018, albeit her candidacy for barangay captain of Barangay West Timawa (Molo) in the May 2018 elections rendered even this point doubtful as such candidacy would have required her to be an actual resident of West Timawa for at least one year immediately preceding election day; otherwise she would have been disqualified. 

The Ombudsman added that granting, that Blanco had actually started residing in Calumpang on Jan. 20, 2018, she still should not have been appointed as barangay secretary on July 1, 2018. 

The anti-graft body said Blanco just fell a little short of the total period of residency required for the appointment to said position. 

The Ombudsman said Niño should accordingly be held administratively liable only for simple misconduct with a penalty of one month suspension.

A barangay chief was suspended for a month for appointing as secretary someone who did not meet the resident requirements for the job. Apparently it was a technicality that no one was aware of was not intentional which is why the suspension is only for a month.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1466950/lanao-del-sur-village-exec-pal-nabbed-with-500-grams-of-meth-in-maguindanao

Anti-narcotics agents in Maguindanao arrested on Friday two suspected drug peddlers, one of them a village councilman in Lanao del Sur, and seized P3.4 million worth of crystal meth.

Anthony Naive of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency(PDEA) in Maguindanao identified the suspects as Alinor Orac, 40, and Ibra Farhan, 43.

Farhan is an incumbent councilman in Guinaopan village of Tamparan town, Lanao del Sur, Naive said.

Naive said that PDEA agents were tipped about the suspects’ selling drugs inside their vehicle, prompting the buy-bust operation.

The suspects agreed to sell meth to an undercover agent along the national highway in the village of Tambo in Sultan Mastura town, Maguindanao at 4 p.m. on Friday.

Seized from the suspects were 500 grams of meth with an estimated market value of P3.4 million.

A village councilor was busted for selling drugs.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1466927/gunmen-kill-traffic-enforcer-facing-homicide-rap-in-bulacan

A traffic enforcer facing homicide charges was shot dead by unidentified assailants on a motorcycle in Barangay Caypombo this town on Thursday (July 29), police said.

Col. Esmael Conde Gauna, Sta. Maria police chief, said the fatality, identified as Mario Domingo, was sitting in front of a laundry shop at about 3:30 p.m. while taking a break from his post when the gunmen approached and shot him

Several empty shells for a .45-caliber pistol were recovered by the police from the crime scene.

Gauna told the Inquirer that Domingo was out on bail since July 13. The traffic enforcer was previously charged with homicide after a vendor he handcuffed and tried arresting on July 4 died of a heart attack.

A traffic enforcer who was charged with murder after a man he arrested died of a heart attack has been assassinated.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148864

A policewoman assigned at the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) headquarters here was among the six charged before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office after they were linked to an illegal gambling operation in Hinigaran town.

In a virtual press briefing on Friday, Col. Romy Palgue, police provincial director, said Master Sgt. Bebzie Nicor is charged with the violation of Presidential Decree 1602, which provides stiffer penalties for illegal gambling.

Nicor is the designated secretary at Palgue’s office at the NOCPPO headquarters, a position she held even during the terms of the previous provincial directors.

“I do not tolerate (this) so effective immediately while being investigated, I relieved her from my office for the conduct of an impartial investigation,” Palgue said.

He said Nicor was among the individuals rounded up by authorities during an operation against an illegal cards game in Barangay Quiwi on July 25.

PNP officer charged with illegal gambling.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1467309/high-value-target-village-watchman-fall-in-batangas-drug-busts

Police arrested a “high-value” target and a village watchman (barangay tanod) in separate buy-bust operations in Lobo town in Batangas province early Sunday, police said.

Lobo police reported that anti-narcotics agents collared Efren Cerezo Jr., 41, after he sold P500 worth of shabu (crystal meth) to an undercover cop in Barangay Fabrica around 1:30 a.m.

Authorities seized two plastic sachets of shabu from the suspect, who was tagged as a “high value individual” in the report.

Later, police also busted Arnel Aldover, 46, village watchman in Barangay Masaguitsit, in another sting operation at the town center around 3 a.m.

Village watchman busted for drugs.

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=tl&tl=en&u=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/01/21/kagawad-arestado-buy-bust-maguindanao

A barangay councilor and another man were arrested after seizing more than P3 million worth of suspected shabu in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao, authorities said Sunday. 

According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro region, a barangay official from Lanao del Sur was one of the two suspects caught in the operation in Barangay Tambo on Friday. 

7 sachets of shabu worth P3.4 million were allegedly confiscated from the suspects. 

The suspects are set to be charged with violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. 

In Davao del Sur, a government employee was arrested in a buy-bust operation last Saturday in Sta. Cruz.

That's two government officials, one an employee and one a councilor, busted for drugs.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1467911/former-party-list-coordinator-in-sorsogon-nabbed-for-illegal-firearms

A former coordinator of a party-list was arrested for possession of illegal firearms in a search operation on Monday morning in Sorsogon province. 

Police Major Maria Luisa Calubaquib, Bicol police spokesperson, said the police served a search warrant against Revor Jesoro, former provincial coordinator of Magsasaka Party-list, at his residence in Barangay Salog in Sorsogon City at around 7 a.m. 

Confiscated during the operation were a hand grenade and three caliber. 45 pistols with several live bullets. 

Judge Refober Gerona of the Regional Trial Court Branch 53 in Sorsogon City issued the warrant against Jesoro for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

No drugs, however, were found in his home. 

Meanwhile, Magsasaka Rep. Argel Cabatbat said in a statement following Jesoro’s arrest that the suspect resigned from his position last May 21 “because of certain differences in views and in the execution of certain programs in Sorsogon.”

A former party-list coordinator has been arrested on firearms charges.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1149038

For bribing a policeman in exchange for the dropping of cases against two suspects in a frustrated murder case, a deputy City Prosecutor and a lawyer will spend the next six to 10 years behind bars.

In a decision promulgated on July 29 and recently made available online, Sandiganbayan's Sixth Division found Zamboanga City Deputy City Prosecutor Roselyn Murillo-Mamon and defense counsel Pherhram Surian Saiddi guilty of violating Republic Act 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Mamon is also perpetually disqualified from public office.

The charges arose after the two offered PHP200,000 to Police Officer 3 Flavio Enriquez Jr. in 2013 in exchange for the dropping of frustrated murder cases against Phon Mohammad and Dadoh Mansul filed before the Zamboanga City Regional Trial Court Branch 14.

An entrapment operation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Western Mindanao Regional Office, headed by lawyer Peter Chan Lugay on Aug. 16, 2013, subsequently led to Mamon and Saiddi's arrest.

Saiddi, Enriquez said, directly handed him the brown envelope containing the money.

In their defense, the two claimed they offered Enriquez "blood money" for the settlement of the case.

A government prosecutor and a lawyer were both found guilty of bribery. They said they were offering "blood money" which is just one more thing wrong with the Philippine justice system. A murderer should not be able to pay his way out of being prosecuted.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1468378/5-nueva-ecija-cops-linked-to-kidnap-slay-of-online-seller

Five Nueva Ecija police officers and two civilians were linked to the kidnapping and murder of an online seller whose body was later found charred, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday. 

PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar said PSSg Benedict Matias Reyes, PSSg June Malillin, PCpl Julius Alcantara, PMsg. Rowen Martin, and PSSg Drextemir Esmundo, along with Franklin Macapagal and Dario Robarios, were linked to the kidnapping and murder of online seller Nadia Casar, according to PNP’s Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG). 

(These criminal-minded people who are wicked to the bone deserve to rot in prison.) 

Initial investigation by the AKG revealed that Casar and a Grab driver were kidnapped by at least five men last July 20, Tuesday afternoon, in Barangay Tagpos in Sta. Rosa town in Nueva Ecija. 

The Grab driver was robbed of his cellphone along with P4,500 in cash but was released the day after. 

Casar’s body, however, was only found on Sunday at Sitio Pinagpala, Palayan City, Nueva Ecija, where it was buried by the suspects, according to the AKG. 

The five police officers and the two civilians were identified by a witness, according to the AKG. 

The police said Reyes, Malillin, Alcantara, and Robarios are now in custody while Martin, Esmundo, and Macapagal remain at large. 

The PNP chief also sent his condolences to Casar’s family as he vowed to give swift justice for her death. 

(I will personally look into this case and will make sure that these rotten eggs will face justice in court and be accountable for their crimes.)

Five PNP officers were involved in the killing of an online seller. No word on the motive.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1468800/police-captain-dies-in-gun-accident-in-batangas

A junior police official was killed after his gun accidentally went off in San Pascual town in Batangas province on Tuesday, a report said Wednesday.

San Pascual police reported that Police Captain Rjoval Lopez, 36, assigned at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City, died after his service pistol, a 9mm Glock, accidentally went off inside his parked car in Barangay Del Pilar at around 11:30 a.m.

The report said the victim’s sister, Marshel Gauang saw her brother at the driver’s seat while checking his service firearm for safety before entering the house.

Gauang said the pistol suddenly went off, the bullet hitting his brother’s head. The police officer died on the spot, the report said.

Another PNP officer killed by his own gun.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/392394/cops-admit-facing-a-blank-wall-in-the-killing-of-radioman-cortes

Admitting that they are still facing a blank wall regarding the killing of radio blocktimer Reynante Cortes, Cebu City cops say they are now reconstructing the crime scene and completing their association matrix to help uncover the broadcaster’s attackers.  

Crime reconstruction is a crucial step in analyzing how Cortes was killed last July 22 in Barangay Mambaling, basing upon the information and evidence they gathered from their investigation, says Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).  

Parilla said that previously, they were baffled by the autopsy results of Cortes showing that there were two entry wounds found in the body of the victim yet only one bullet was recovered.  

However, the ballistician has explained that the firearm used, a 5.56 high-powered long firearm has a bullet designed to break when fired.  

(With regards to the firearms used, it was confirmed by the ballistician that it was a 5.56. There is only one bullet shot but it split when it hit Cortes’ arm and reentered (to the chest), resulting in two trajectories. It was confirmed by the ballistician that there was only one bullet shot.)

How the heck does the PNP not know how bullets work to the point they are baffled about how a corpse can be shot once but have two exit wounds? This screams of incompetence on their part.

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=tl&tl=en&u=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/05/21/magsasaka-patay-nang-barilin-umano-ng-barangay-chair

A farmer died while his colleague was injured after their barangay chairman allegedly shot them in Pastrana town in Leyte Wednesday morning. 

Jamesbert Abanes, 35, was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, while Arnulfo Abanes, 68, continued to be treated. 

Police identified the suspect as Lanauan Barangay Chairman Rogelio Empillo.  

Personal grudge is viewed by authorities as a motive for the crime. Based on the initial investigation, the victims and suspects previously had an argument. 

According to police, a resident informed them about the hunt. They found the victims lying on the farm and immediately took them to the hospital in Palo town. 

Prior to the incident, Jamesbert was working on the irrigation of his farm near the suspect’s farm. 

The barangay chairman allegedly got angry with Jamesbert and shot him several times. When Arnulfo arrived, the suspect also shot him.

This same barangay chairman was arrested in 2018 on firearm charges.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1149350

A police officer assigned in Central Luzon was arrested for alleged involvement in gunrunning activities in Metro Manila, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said on Wednesday. 

CIDG chief, Maj. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro identified the suspect as Lt. Roy Bravo, 46, assigned at the Bocaue Municipal Police Station (MPS), who was arrested by CIDG members after offering to sell a caliber 9mm submachine gun worth PHP75,000 to an undercover agent in a buy-bust operation at a gasoline station along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) corner Danlig St, Makati City at around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday. 

Seized from the suspect were one Intratec caliber 9mm submachine gun, assembly magazine; suppressor/silencer, one Pietro Beretta caliber 9mm pistol, assembly magazine for caliber 9mm Pietro Beretta pistol, 14 rounds of caliber 9mm ammunition, a PNP ID, a pair of PNP field service uniform and his vehicle with plate number NDK 6153. 

Bravo entered the service in September 1998 and was promoted to police lieutenant via lateral commission in March 2019. He was assigned to various PNP units particularly in Maritime Group, Highway Patrol Group, PRO 3 Regional Headquarters, Bataan Police Provincial Office (PPO), and Bulacan PPO.

A 23 year veteran of the PNP was arrested for running guns.

Coronavirus Lockdown: Prepare For a Surge, Economy to Bleed, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.

Previously the government has blamed rising COVID cases on the public for not following health protocols. Time and again this has been prove to be a lie.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148663

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) logged a significant decrease in the number of quarantine violators in the country.

In a pre-recorded Cabinet meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday night, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año reported that the number of people apprehended for non-wearing face masks has decreased to 34,766, from over 50,000 during the previous week.

He said apprehended violators of the prohibition on mass gatherings also declined to 4,638, from last week's 12,724.

“(This is an indication that many of our people are following community health protocols, especially minimum public health standards),” Año told Duterte.

This good to know because the nation is gradually going under a harsher lockdown as the delta variant spreads. The NCR will be lockdown under ECQ for two weeks as a preemptive response to the new variant.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1467211/doh-ecq-gives-time-to-prepare-for-a-surge

The Department of Health (DOH) does not expect the strict lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Metro Manila where the number of active cases daily could rise to 18,000 and up to 30,000 by September, but it will give time for authorities to prepare to deal with a possible surge.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Saturday said the figures were estimates made by experts from the Autumn Group and a team that employed the Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler For Early Detection of Diseases, or FASSSTER system.

“What we’re saying is these lockdowns will help us prepare the system, but it is not going to control the spread. We still need to prepare the system, do what we have to do to prevent the further spread of this Delta variant,” she said during Saturday’s Laging Handa briefing.

“Please take note that these are initial projections and DOH, with our experts, have provided comments and recommendations to further improve on this,” she later told reporters.

Vergeire did not specify the “preparations” needed to deal with the expected rise in cases in the National Capital Region (NCR).

But the DOH is not only to blame for the disastrous reimposition of ECQ. LGUs appealed for this status!

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148833

"The IATF made the decision to lock down in order to give time to increase vaccination and delay the spread of Delta. They did this with eyes wide open on the drastic economic implications. As for the timing, the cases and healthcare capacity still remain manageable and so the experts felt there was still time to prepare the public," he added.

He noted that the metrics for Metro Manila are still consistent for a general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions and that the decision to escalate to ECQ was made based on the appeals of local government units (LGUs).

“Appeals by LGUs are always entertained, and so the mayors, having seen some clusters on the ground wanted to escalate,” Salvaña said.

It is interesting to note that LGUs appeals to the IATF to put the NCR under ECQ. It is the LGUs that are causing great economic harm and scaring people over a virus that has a 93.7% revery rate.

 

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/797455/economy-to-bleed-p105b-for-each-week-ncr-is-in-ecq-neda/story/

The Philippine economy will lose hundreds of billions of pesos while hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake for each week that Metro Manila - the country’s economic center - is under the strictest quarantine classification, the National  Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Friday. 

“Each week of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) in NCR (National Capital Region) will cost the economy P105 billion,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said, citing latest estimates from the NEDA. 

“Also increase[s] poor people by up to 177,000 and 444,000 more without jobs,” Chua said. 

Nonetheless, Chua said the economic impact of the strict lockdown “can be partly reversed if we use the three weeks to accelerate vaccination of everyone in the high risk areas.”

“This way, the ECQ will be an investment to pave the way for a recovery once we control Delta spread,” the country’s chief economist said.

There were certainly be dire economic consequences as a result of this new lockdown which is why the government is scrambling to find funds to aid the people.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1467001/govt-scrambles-to-find-funding-for-ecq-aid

With another round of the strictest lockdown to be imposed in Metro Manila, the government on Friday scrambled to find the money to compensate those who would temporarily lose their jobs or means of livelihood with the expected closure of some businesses. 

The country’s chief economist warned of hundreds of billions of pesos in losses resulting from the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila from Aug. 6 to Aug. 20, on top of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who would slide to temporary poverty. 

With the threat of community transmission of the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, the government is again struggling to contain COVID-19 with another cycle of lockdown. 

This would be the third ECQ in the National Capital Region (NCR) since the pandemic was declared in early 2020. The first and longest was from March 16 to May 15, 2020, which crippled the economy. The second was from March 29 to April 11 this year during a surge in COVID-19 cases. 

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said in a text message to the Inquirer that officials were awaiting the Office of the President’s directive on the doleouts. 

Asked whether there were funds for cash aid, Avisado replied: “We’re looking for where we could get some.” 

President Duterte approved a P1,000 cash aid per person and a maximum of P4,000 per family in areas under ECQ, his spokesperson Harry Roque said on Thursday.

P1,000 - P4,000 is a mere pittance for those who will lose their jobs during this new round of ECQ. The DOLE says 167,000 workers will be affected. Worst of all the co-chairman of the IATF says 2 weeks might not be enough.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1467603/nograles-unsure-if-metro-manila-ecq-good-for-only-2-weeks

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Monday admitted he is unsure if the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila will only last for two weeks. 

Nograles, co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, said the duration of the ECQ will still depend on the number of COVID-19 cases as well as the progress of the vaccination drive. 

“We also don’t know how long this ECQ will last. Right now, it’s just two weeks so far,” Nograles said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel. 

Pressed if the ECQ will stay for over two weeks, Nograles said: “I-momonitor natin yung numbers, i-momonitor natin yung vaccination rollout, we’ll take it one day at a time but also be mindful about August 20.” 

(We will monitor the numbers, the vaccination rollout, we’ll take it one day at a time but also be mindful about August 20.) 

“That’s at the back of our heads, we’re looking at projections again and the projections will only be as accurate as what we see day to day. It’s like a day to day basis, you can’t make accurate projections until we see the numbers day to day,” he added.

God only knows how long this whole charade will continue but why shouldn't it go on for as long as it can? The pandemic may have destroyed the economy but it has also brought in money to the government coffers.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1149143

The Quezon City government averages a daily collection of PHP60,000 from fines paid by Covid-19 health and safety protocol violators, the most prevalent of whom are those not wearing masks.

Despite repeated reminders and the fines that go with not following ordinances, there are still violators.

“Napakarami nating nai-pasang ordinansa dito to be able to contain the virus. Meron talagang multa na (We have already passed so many ordinances to be able to contain the virus. There is a fine of) PHP300 for the first offense, PHP500 for a second offense, and PHP1,000 for a third offense,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Monday.

Other violations are establishments that operate even if they are not yet allowed to, like bars, and drinking in public places.

P60,000 per day adds up quick. Perhaps the government can use that new source of revenue to fund the building of COVID-19 safe prisons.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148724

A leader of the House of Representatives on Thursday proposed the construction of more modern jails to prevent prison overcrowding and the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Deputy Speaker and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II stressed the importance of building better facilities to lessen the spread of diseases in jails.

He also cited the Bureau of Corrections records showing that the congestion rate in its 125 prisons was 310 percent in January 2020.

According to a Human Rights Watch Report in 2020, 467 jails nationwide were at 534 percent of capacity in March of the same year based on Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) records.

“In these trying times, we are hoping that Congress will also shed light on the needs of our fellow Filipinos who have been deprived of liberty. PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) also deserve humane and safe facilities especially now that we are in a pandemic,” Gonzales said.

He said the government should address the inadequate detention conditions that could have devastating impacts on PDLs and prison staff, especially amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"In these trying times?"  The government should have taken care of this problem a long time ago. Why wait until a pandemic hits? That's really the problem with the Philippines. Instead of planning ahead and doing best practices they let problems pile up until it's too late.

Picture of the Week: Radiation Area

There is a lot of construction happening in the area but what is going on in that shed?

If you don't know that is the sign for radiation.

Need I inform you that radioactive materials should not be stored in a wooden shed that is secured with only a pad lock? None of the workers at this site were wearing suits to protect them from radiation and not long afterwards the shed disappeared. 

I don't think there ever was anything radioactive being stored there. So, what's the deal with the sign then? Maybe they wanted to scare away thieves? Or maybe there was something radioactive in there. Who knows!?

Insurgency: The Meat

Last week Duterte gave his final State of the Nation address. From his pulpit the President directed troops to shoot dead any communists they see walking around.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1464676/dutertes-order-to-troops-shoot-communist-rebels-dead

President Rodrigo Duterte, in his final State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, ordered military troops to shoot communist rebels dead since they will not be held liable in the country’s law but only before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“My orders to you, if you see them (communist rebels) walking around, kindly shoot them dead, I would be happy,” he said.

“Anyway you’re only charged in the ICC together with me, so what is the problem of having another one, another idiot Filipino who has caused great damage to the country?” he added.

Duterte also chided communist rebels, saying the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) “earns billions but passes on very little to their fighting men who die for an ideology that is so rotten and corrupt.”

It does not make much sense that he would say such a thing when he has encouraged rebels to surrender and avail of all the benefits which include housing and money. Many think this whole of nation approach should be sustained even after Duterte leaves office.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148415

The "whole of nation approach" of President Rodrigo Duterte should be continued and sustained by the next administration.

Thus said Sadanga, Mountain Province Mayor Gabino Ganggangan on Tuesday, an advocate for peace and avid supporter of the government’s stance to end the local communist armed conflict (ELCAC). 

“The whole of nation approach is very important and never was there a national government that came up with such a comprehensive and effective way of addressing the insurgency problem of the country," he said.

"This should be sustained by whoever the next administration will be. It is a well-crafted one wherein as early as the first two years, you can already see the merits. Insurgency will not end in a few years but we are glad he started it,” he added.

It is noteworthy that this LGU official says the "insurgency will not end in a few years" since the AFP was really banking on 2022 as being the end of the NPA.  In fact at least one region is confident they will defeat the insurgency in their area by the end of Duterte's term next year.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148429

The Western Visayas Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF6-ELCAC) is committed to pursuing just and lasting peace by ending local insurgency next year through the Whole-of-Nation approach.

“Before the President's term ends, we shall strive to put an end to the 52-year-old insurgency by bringing basic social services to the grassroots level, building roads to far-flung barangays, winning the hearts and minds of the masses, depriving the communist terrorist groups of their lairs, safe havens and community bases,” Associate Provincial Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, the spokesperson of the regional task force, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We will ensure that you and your families will be provided with adequate livelihood, a peaceful community, and hope for a better future,” he said as he called on their remaining members to “abandon their lost cause and dying ideology”.

Maj. Cenon Pancito III, the spokesperson of the Philippine Army's (PA) 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), welcomed the President's mention of the efforts of the task force.

“We know that this is the meat of what we are doing in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. We wanted development and progress but there are problems on insurgency,” he said in a phone interview.

He said the acknowledgment by the President is a testament that it is not only the AFP that is working but the government as a whole, driven by the political will of the country's leader to end the insurgency.

“This would somehow also suggest that the AFP is not left alone to do the job. But we have been telling this that insurgency cannot be solved by merely pure military solution but should be a whole-of-nation approach,” Pancito added.

"The meat" of the AFP's fight against the CPP-NPA is bribing terrorists to surrender rather than annihilating them. In turn they receive money and housing and are not prosecuted for their heinous crimes. This method is also working to dismantle the BIFF.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148898

A military commander here said the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) is weakening as more extremists realize they were misguided and fighting a lost cause.

“More have expressed to surrender but (are) just waiting for an opportune time,” Col. Pedro Balisi, commander of the Army's 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, said in an interview here Saturday.

Balisi said 80 to 90 BIFF radicals left in the marshland of Maguindanao are expected to surrender soon.

Local government officials, including village leaders, he said, are continuously convincing those misguided by the BIFF ideology to surrender peacefully to the government and live normal lives.

“Our focused military operations geared towards them also forced the extremists to surrender,” he added.

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID), said relentless military operations would continue for those who refuse to surrender.

“Our doors have remained open, though, to those who wish to be with their families and live peaceful lives,” he said.

“The latest surrenderers belonged to the Bungos and Karialan faction(s) of the BIFF,” Uy said in a separate interview.

Haron Akil, one of the BIFF surrenderers, and the other 10 disclosed that many of their companions want to yield as they are tired of running away from pursuing military forces.

“We expect them to also yield soon,” he said in the vernacular.

Uy said the surrenderers would get financial aid and a livelihood package from the Maguindanao provincial government to help them start with their new lives as peaceful and productive citizens.

What would constitute an opportune time to surrender to the government? Perhaps they have unfinished business which needs tending. 

Convincing terrorists to surrender takes a village. It especially takes village officials which is why the NTF-ELCAC has been training them to persuade them.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148637

The provincial task force to end local communist armed conflict (ELCAC) has been raising the capability of village officials in Leyte for them to help completely rid communities from the influence of the New People’s Army (NPA).

The communist terrorist group’s effort to regain their former strongholds in the province prompted the task force to step up the information drive among village officials who are members of the barangay (village) task force ELCAC.

“The barangay ELCAC is proven effective with the community officials are now addressing issues being exploited by the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front. They are now equipped with the right information regarding deception being employed by the communist terrorist group,” said Capt. Kaharudin Cadil, Philippine Army 802nd Infantry Brigade spokesperson, in a phone interview Thursday.

The weakening of NPA in Leyte is a result of a whole-of-nation approach by linking arms between basic service providers from the central government, community participation groups from the local governments, and the security sector from the military and police.

Through the local task force, concerns of communities are now properly addressed since the task force is chaired by village chief, the most trusted person in a community, Cadil said.

With village officials taking an active role, Cadil said it is now easier to convince NPA fighters and supporters in villages to abandon the communist ideology.

If bribing terrorists to surrender is working then it's working. Plenty of people have attributed the program's success to Duterte and say whoever succeeds him must equal his fight against the CPP-NPA.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1148327

Multi-sectoral groups on Monday cited the benefits of the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and hoped that the succeeding administration will have the same strong political will to fight terrorism.

The NTF-ELCAC made easier and more accessible the government's delivery of basic services in far-flung communities, particularly in areas infiltrated by communist terrorist groups (CTGs), the League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP) and Liga Independencia Pilipinas (LIPI) said in a statement.

The President signed Executive Order No. 70 in December 2018, creating the NTF-ELCAC that employs a whole-of-nation approach to end communism and institute peace-building initiatives.

Both groups said it is only under Duterte that the government has the courage to disclose the deceptions and violence by the legal front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Liberation (CPP-NPA-NDF).

The Duterte administration also successfully "broke the backbones" of other local terrorist groups within Mindanao areas such as the Abu Sayyaf Group in Basilan and the Islamic State-linked Maute Group in Lanao del Sur.

They added that the gains on good governance, especially the fight against communist rebels, acquired under Duterte's leadership must be sustained by the next administration.

"The solution to conflicts should not be limited to military approach but more on political and socio-economic services," the groups said.

They also appealed to the next administration to continue to "unmask those politicians and militant organizations" that have been identified with the CPP-NPA-NDF.

If the whole-of-nation approach is what works best then laying the fight against the insurgency totally at the feet of the executive branch is a bad idea. Besides, the AFP is the main group fighting the insurgency. The fact that the insurgency has lasted 52 years lies in great measure on their shoulders. The AFP is not just a corrupt organization but an unorganized military force. Never forget the DND Secretary Lorenzana admitted that the AFP stopped urban warfare training because they were not using that skill. The result was a 5 month war in Marawi. Marawi might not have happened had the AFP acted on the intel they had as far back as February 2017. No matter who becomes President the AFP shares the large part of blame for whatever happens with the insurgency.