Officials said the task force will sustain efforts against security threats in the city by increasing visibility patrols and other anti-terrorism measures.
Under a state of lawlessness, the military is primarily tasked to coordinate all efforts to maintain peace and order in the area.
Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the task force will be headed by Col. Rodolfo Obaniana, commander of the Army’s 701st Infantry Brigade based in Davao City.
"The principal mission (of the task force) is to secure the Davao City proper, They will coordinate very closely with the crisis management committee and the local police in the area. They are ordered to monitor terrorist groups and prevent them from sowing terror," Reyes said.
Obiniana, for his part, said the task force will primarily address the peace and order situation in the city.
"But even if the (Armed Forces) leads the task force, still everything shall be coordinated with the police, it will be a joint effort even in the conduct of patrols," Obaniana told The STAR.
Obaniana explained the military and the police will still have to draw up the required implementing mechanism on how to go about the operation of the task force even as authorities have already agreed on its initial composition.
"We are still going to fine tune the remaining issues that have to be addressed with regard to the operation of the task force. We already have initial agreements but these have to be finalized yet after other aspects shall be thoroughly discussed," he said.
A battalion of the Army’s elite Special Forces and a composite team from the other Army units will be deployed as task force troops.
Obiniana said military troops assigned to the task force will be patrolling the city streets while others will be assigned in shopping malls, churches, schools and vital installations paired with corresponding number of policemen. – With Mike Frialde