Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. explained that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) have separate mandates, even as both agencies pursue the same goal of promoting peace in the countryside.
Galvez said OPAPRU is directly engaged in formal peace negotiations, including work with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Bangsamoro region, the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army, and groups such as Kapatiran and the Paduano faction.
The agency also takes the lead in local peace engagements with provincial and municipal governments and co-chairs NTF-ELCAC clusters on peace talks, amnesty, and the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.
By contrast, NTF-ELCAC is a task force focused on addressing communist armed conflict. It carries out programs through 12 clusters and concentrates on development and security projects in insurgency-affected barangays.
“So, that’s our difference. We are also working for the national task force considering the chairman of the national task force is the president.” Galvez said during the agency’s recent budget hearing at the Senate.
The clarification comes as Senator Sherwin Gatchalian proposed merging OPAPRU and NTF-ELCAC to streamline peace efforts.
During budget deliberations, Gatchalian said consolidating the two agencies would improve efficiency and establish a single focal body for countryside peace and order initiatives.
