Duterte Legacy Caravan celebrates Filipino Workers’ contributions

PRESS RELEASE

NTF-ELCAC MEDIA BUREAU

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) joins in honoring Filipino workers for their hard work and dedication in the celebration of Labor Day, or International Workers' Day, through the Duterte Legacy Caravan, dubbed “Pagkakaisa ng Mamamayan at Pamahalaan Tungo sa Pagbangon, Kapayapaan at Kaunlaran” on Sunday at the EDSA People Power Monument and simultaneously being conducted in various provinces.

According to the NTF-ELCAC vice-chairman, National Security Adviser Sec. Hermogenes Esperon, the celebration is to show the Filipinos the efforts and interventions made by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s whole-of-nation approach in making a positive change for all Filipinos, especially the vulnerable communities previously terrorized by Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs).

“This is President Duterte’s gift or his way of extending the services of government to all Filipinos, especially our hardworking laborers, and at the same time commending their contributions to the economy and Philippine progress,” Esperon said.

The NSA added that President Duterte believes in how his whole-of-government approach should work to serve Filipino workers and their families, including the communities to which they belong. This is to give them a genuine peace and order, free from the harassment and terrorism of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), that will usher in true economic progress.

“Naririto po ang pamahalaan hindi lamang para matiyak na may maayos kayong kabuhayan kundi kaagapay ninyo sa pagtataguyod ng inyong pamilya at pamayanan. Kaisa ng lahat ng manggagawa ang pamahalaan sa kanilang pagpupunyagi. Dahil ikinararangal natin at pinahahalagahan ang mga manggagawang Pilipino,” Esperon said.

According to Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the NTF-ELCAC Spokesperson on Local Government Affairs and Barangay Development Program, joining tomorrow’s celebration are the following government agencies, the DILG, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), the Department of Health (DoH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

As coordinated by Undersecretary Joel Sy-Egco, Executive Director for the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, and Spokesperson on NTF-ELCAC Public Affairs, also joining are the following organizations: Kabataan Kontra Droga at Terorismo (KKDAT), Kaibigang LGBTQ+, Magdalena Mission: Alagang Ate, Global Peace Community Relations, National Coalition of IT advocates for Change, JIPCO Alliance for Industrial Peace, KaligKasan, Propelling Our Inherited Nation Through Our Youth (POINTY), SAMBAYANAN Youth, Youth for Peace, International Association of Youth and Students for Peace, Hands Off Our Children, and Yakap ng Magulang.

Contrary to the issue of red-tagging, Esperon said, “This is the true nature of NTF-ELCAC. To bring peace and order, socio-economic development, and basic services such as access to clean water, electricity, health centers, schools, toilet, farm-to-market roads, and livelihood to all Filipinos, especially to the nearly forgotten barangays, where the most vulnerable sector of our society live.”

“And that is why, the CPP-NPA-NDF, especially their front organizations, will always make a way to discredit the NTF-ELCAC. It is their desperate attempt to survive into the next administration, now that more and more communities are enjoying the support and services of President Duterte’s whole-of-nation approach in ending the CTG’s insurgency” Esperon added.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. ###