Palace OK with AFP proposal to create body to end communist insurgency

Malacañang on Sunday expressed support for the Armed Forces of the Philippines' proposal to form a body with the aim to help end communist insurgency.

"We agree that ending the communist insurgency in the country entails a whole-of-government approach," said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. 

He made the remark after AFP Chief of Staff General Carlito Galvez Jr. urged President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an executive order to create a national task force to combat acts perpetrated by communist rebels.

"The AFP, which requested the creation of a national inter-agency task force, may wish to coordinate and submit its formal recommendation to the Office of the President, through the Office of the Executive Secretary, for the drafting of an executive order in this regard," Roque added.

In an interview with ANC, Galvez said the military still needs the help of other government agencies in addressing the issue of communist insurgency.

“They are very potent on the parliamentary struggle because they want to infiltrate government agencies and also our political system. The problem that we have is the component of the civilian agencies," Galvez said in the interview.

“We have to stop the recruitment and the recruitment is coming from the schools. From student activism, from being a nationalist, the NPA will brainwash them to become extremists—they become fundamentalists," he added.

Roque, however, earlier said that military solution is just one of the options they are considering.

"Dalawang kombinasyon po iyan: iyong patuloy na pakikipaglaban sa kanila at iyong patuloy na pag-e-engganyo na mag-surrender ang mga nanlaban o nanlalaban sa ngalan ng Communist Party of the Philippines," Roque said at a news conference on Thursday.

"It’s the fact that our policies are directed to address root causes of poverty [the deemed cause of rebellion] and the fact that we are promising NPA fighters a new lease on life," he said.

Duterte on Tuesday said the insurgency may be over by the second quarter of next year, pointing to the continued surrender of New People's Army members and the fall of several guerilla fronts in Mindanao as indicators. — Erwin Colcol/BM, GMA News