Palace: Cabinet to oversee efforts to address roots of insurgency

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Cabinet members to supervise development efforts in all regions as part of the government's effort to address the roots of the decades-long communist insurgency in the country. 

Duterte issued the directive during the first meeting of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in Malacañang on Monday.

"The members of the Cabinet and other heads of agencies who were present at the meeting agreed that the whole-of-nation movement is not directed at defeating the communist insurgency, rather to demonstrate genuine good governance for the betterment of the lives of the people," presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing Tuesday. 

"To effectively manage the whole-of-nation movement, the president will assign each of his Cabinet members to oversee the peace and development efforts in all regions of the country," he added.  

The designated Cabinet officer for the region will be supported by a unified and integrated Regional Development Council and Regional Peace and Order Council.

Panelo said the president has also approved a national plan that would integrate and harmonize the efforts of the government and other sectors to deliver goods and services and to ensure peace and security in conflict-affected communities.

He also said that the president is urging the government and the public to actively work together to address violent conflicts as well as build a "culture of peace and development" throughout the country. 

The administration also seeks to speed up implementation of the national WiFi and 911 projects in all barangays.

"By effectively managing barriers and challenges to peace and development, the whole-of-nation movement envisions to build resilient and robust communities that promote the welfare and the well-being of the Filipino people," Panelo said. 

The Aquino administration used a similar "whole-of-government" approach in talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace agreement with the government in 2014. The approach involved development projects and the delivery of basic services to address poverty and underdevelopment that contributed to religious extremism in parts of Mindanao.

New peace panel?

Panelo claimed Duterte's plan to form a new peace panel that would negotiate with communists was not discussed during the meeting of the task force. 

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict was created by Executive Order No. 70 issued last December. Duterte serves as the chairman of the body, which is composed of the heads of 19 agencies and two representatives from the private sector. 

Duterte scrapped the talks with the communists through Proclamation No. 360 issued on Nov. 23, 2017. Last March, he reiterated that he has permanently ended the negotiations with the Maoist rebels, which have been fighting with the government for five decades. 

READ: OPAPP: New panel to oversee localized 'peace engagements' with Reds

But the president appeared to have changed his tone earlier this month as he announced a plan to form a new peace panel composed of three military officers and "at least" two civilians. 

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said in a statement Monday that the new panel "will oversee the localized peace engagements" and "act as the adviser for local peace dialogues through the establishment of protocols and other legal and systematic procedures."

OPAPP already said in March when Duterte dissolved the peace panel led by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III that a new panel would take its place.

"We will reconstitute the panel at a national scope in accordance with the whole-of-nation approach we are advocating to achieve inclusive and sustainable peace," peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said then. 

"Through the formulation of the new panel, government will be directly engaging the people on the ground to address the fundamentals of the problem," Galvez said Monday.

Panelo also said Monday that localized peace talks would continue even if the president forms a new peace panel. He did not say, however, that the new panel would be handling the localized peace talks.

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