Public support against Reds urged
The DILG and DBM are co-chairman of the PGC
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo M. Año called on the support of the public to help the government end the 50-year-old communist insurgency in the country.
Año made the call during the Pre-SONA (State of the Nation Address) forum of the Participatory Governance Cluster (PGC) held in Cebu City.
Año, together with Department of Budget and Management (DBM) officer-in-charge Janet Abuel, presented the accomplishments of the PGC in Cebu during the Pre-SONA forum 2019 dubbed: “Tatak ng Pagbabago: Patuloy na Malasakit at Pagkakaisa”.
The DILG and DBM are co-chairman of the PGC.
The PGC is one of the six clusters organized by the President through Executive Order 24 which aims to enhance citizen participation in government processes.
According to Año, by declaring the New People’s Army (NPA) as persona non grata and at the same time, convincing them to lay down their arms and rejoin society, it could help hasten their eventual demise.
“Help us convince the communist rebels that armed conflict is not the solution to the country’s problems. Poverty, injustice, and corruption are the usual issues that they are exploiting and yet right from the start, this government under President Duterte has set these issues as top priorities to be addressed through good governance and focused efforts to improve the plight of the people,” Año said.
Based on records from the interagency Task Force Balik-Loob, more than 8,300 rebel surrenderers yielded to the government as of December 2018. A total of 2,129 former rebels — 1,505 NPA and 624 Militia ng Bayan — have also been provided with benefits and assistance from 2018 and 2019 through the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.