The National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Saturday said United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan’s visit to the country is “counterproductive” to the government’s anti-terrorism and peace initiatives.
“We strongly reject UNSR Irene Khan’s call for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC. We take offense in her pronouncements against the Philippine government and the NTF-ELCAC,” NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres said.
The official also said Khan’s visit to the Philippines is counterproductive. “We felt betrayed. She blindsided the Filipino people,” Torres said.
Torres’ remarks came following a day after Khan called for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC, citing the initiative as outdated.
Despite Khan’s engagements with various government agencies to understand freedom of expression and opinion issues in the country, Torres lamented her failure to comprehend the established and institutionalized mechanisms for anti-terrorism and peace efforts.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) aimed to showcase to Khan the government’s achievements in press freedom and human rights during Khan 10-day visit.
However, Torres said Khan’s visit and subsequent actions hindered rather than facilitated ongoing efforts to address local armed conflict in the Philippines.
Torres accused Khan of coming with an agenda to undermine and demolish the NTF-ELCAC without understanding its essence.
He criticized her obvious partiality, stating that the government was “hijacked” because Khan allowed herself to be used by those wanting the government and the NTF-ELCAC to fail.
“The NTF-ELCAC is, and will always be relevant. This is something that Khan failed to comprehend,” Torres emphasized.
On Friday, the National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said that the NTF-ELCAC would be open to reforms.
NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Joel Egco meanwhile said the NTF-ELCAC may reorganize when New People’s Army guerrilla fronts are dismantled, NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Joel Egco said.
Egco, in a radio interview, rejected the recommendation by UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan to abolish the agency.
“There is already a shift to a ‘Task Force on Unity, Peace and Development’, so that will really evolve. This is a task force. Once the mission gets accomplished, you either end it or transform it into another entity. Those were the options that were explained to her,” Egco said.
The official also said the task force is “disappointed” with Khan’s recommendation, but the task force respects her recommendations.
In a meeting NTF-ELCAC officials earlier, Khan pointed out the continuing “red-tagging,” adding that the group’s “usefulness is outdated.”
“They seem to believe that the problem is still there although their own statement shows that it has gone down tremendously, the whole threat of communism, insurgency has gone down tremendously, and they boast about this as their success,” Khan said in a press conference on Friday.
Last year, UN Special Rapporteur Ian Fry also recommended disbanding NTF-ELCAC for alleged red-tagging activities against groups or individuals critical of the government.
Groups are meanwhile calling on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to respond to Khan’s recommendation to abolish the NTF-ELCAC.
According to Raymund Villanueva of AlterMidya, President Marcos should personally address the recommendations, rather than allowing other government officials to speak on his behalf.
Villanueva, quoted by GMA News, said: “The president as chief executive must not let people like [Jonathan] Malaya, [Eduardo] Año, and others like them to speak for his policies and his government.”
Another group, the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, represented by Lisa Ito, also encouraged the President to consider the special rapporteur’s recommendations.
“The best way of engaging is to act in the recommendations of the special rapporteur. [Former president Rodrigo] Duterte was quite offensive and loud but in the other hand the total or polar opposite na spineless and silent, that is not a good thing either,” said Ito.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año previously expressed disagreement with the abolition of NTF-ELCAC.
“We respectfully disagree with UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan’s recommendation made this morning to abolish the NTF-ELCAC,” Año said in a statement.