The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is a task force organized by the government of the Philippines in 2018 as part of its "Whole-of-Nation approach" to respond to and raise awareness about ongoing communist armed conflicts in the Philippines, after the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte formally terminated peace talks between the Philippine government and the New People's Army in November 2017.
Background
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) was formed on December 4, 2018, pursuant to Executive Order No. 70 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte which institutionalized the government's "whole-of-nation" approach in tackling the ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines led by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA). The "whole-of-nation" approach is contrasted to prior policy which favored irregular peace talks with communist rebels. The executive order was announced to the public on December 10.
The formation of the NTF-ELCAC followed the formal termination of peace talks between the Philippine government and the NPA when President Rodrigo Duterte issued Presidential Proclamation 360 on November 23, 2017, citing continued attacks by the NPA despite the then ongoing peace negotiations. The CPP and NPA were likewise formally designated as terrorist organizations by the government.
According to the President's proposed budget, the NTF-ELCAC was to be allotted ₱7.8 billion for 2025, triple the NTF-ELCAC's budget from the previous year.
Composition The NTF-ELCAC is composed of 12 operational clusters or lines of effort administered by various relevant government agencies:
Basic Services Cluster E-CLIP and Amnesty Program Cluster Infrastructure, Resource Management and Employment Cluster International Engagement Cluster Legal Cooperation Cluster Local Government Empowerment Cluster Localized Peace Engagement Cluster Peace, Law Enforcement and Development Support Cluster Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Empowerment Cluster Sectoral Unification, Capacity Building Empowerment and Mobilization Cluster Situational Awareness and Knowledge Management Cluster Strategic Communication Cluster
Regional (RTF-ELCAC), provincial (PTF-ELCAC), city (CTF-ELCAC), municipality (MTF-ELCAC), and barangay (BTF-ELCAC) task forces have been formed to implement at the local level the NTF-ELCAC's whole-of-nation approach.
Activities and programs
Campaign against suspected front organizations The NTF-ELCAC maintains a campaign against the ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines, as well as against groups that it claims to be front organizations of the communist group. It maintains that it has the duty to warn the public against "dubious groups with links to communist terrorist organizations". The task force's allegations has been criticized as an act of "red-tagging". The NTF-ELCAC on its part falsely claim that the term "red-tagging" was invented by the CPP-NPA and the usage of such term is a move to discredit the task force's allegations.
Among the notable groups the NTF-ELCAC has alleged to be a communist rebel front is the Makabayan bloc, whose members were elected to the House of Representatives. The allegations of the NTF-ELCAC is an "official stance" of the task force. The NTF-ELCAC also made the same accusation against left-wing human rights organization Karapatan, which filed a lawsuit against the task force for alleged violations against Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity in response.
The NTF-ELCAC's also conducted background checks on organizers of community pantries set up by volunteers as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic for possible links to the CPP-NPA, which led to calls to defund the NTC-ELCAC.
In 2025, labor groups and human rights organizations criticized the NTF-ELCAC, stating that NTF-ELCAC uses red-tagging justify the killing of workers who call for humane working conditions and higher salaries.
Barangay Development Program The Barangay Development Program (BDP) is a socioeconomic program of the NTF-ELCAC for barangays that have been deemed free from communist rebel influence by the national government. It is described by the task force as an approach to address the root causes of insurgency such as "hunger, disease, poverty, injustice and hopelessness" so that the communities would be less susceptible to fall under the influence of the communist insurgents. The government identified as eligible for the program 822 remote conflict-ridden barangays classified as "geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs)" cleared from communist insurgency influence. The CPP has downplayed the BDP, calling it a "band-aid solution" and believed that the program does not satisfy the "fundamental demand for genuine land reform and the clamor for respect of ancestral lands". The BDP was allotted a 2.6 billion budget under the 2024 General Appropriations Act; , the Department of the Interior and Local Government stated that none of NTF-ELCAC's 885 BDP projects in 2024 have been completed.
A 2024 Commission on Audit report tagged as "irregular" a 154.77 million fund spent by the Butuan City government in 2023 under the NTF-ELCAC's Barangay Development Program. In Iloilo, the Commission on Audit flagged the provincial government's uncompleted projects under the Barangay Development Program.
In October 2025, Kabataan Partylist Representative Renee Co urged the government to reallocate the NTF-ELCAC's billion-peso budget to fund agriculture, education, and social services. Co called the BDP a "bogus development program" that goes to corruption and the militarization of rural communities.
According to Karapatan, people are invited to attend aid giving events, which turn out to be surrender ceremonies where they aid recipients presented to audiences as "armed rebels returning to the law". Karapatan allege that the barangay development program results in fake surrenders and threatens freedom of expression and freedom of association. Peasants are made to sign a document stating they are NPA surrenderees, according to reports in the Bicol region, where Karapatan says there have been four extrajudicial killings and 95 instances of human rights violations during the presidency of Bongbong Marcos. As of March 2025, Karapatan recorded 560 victims of forced or fake surrenders under Marcos.
In August 2025, President Bongbong Marcos announced a ₱8.1 billion budget just for the NTF-ELCAC's barangay development program for 2026, triple the program's budget from the previous year. Catholic church groups questioned the proposed budget, saying that infrastructure projects are mere "palliatives" if poverty, farmer landlessness, political dynasties, and corruption remain. Caritas criticized NTF-ELCAC's red-tagging of civil society organizations and said that public assistance programs should not be used by the security sector to attack democratic freedoms.
Balik Loob Program and E-CLIP The Balik Loob Program provides a mechanism for former communist rebels who surrendered to the government to reintegrate to mainstream society.
The Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) is a program established through Administrative Order No. 10 signed by President Duterte on April 3, 2018. Under the program, the Department of the Interior and Local Government provides a package of financial, livelihood, and reintegration assistance, as well as firearms remuneration to rebel and extremist surrenderers, including their families and communities. As of April 2023, there were 37,413 former rebels and former violent extremists who availed of the program since its inception. The Commission on Audit's 2020 Annual Audit Report said that 1.28 million disbursed under E-CLIP lacked documentation, suggesting possible invalid transactions.
Administration The NTF-ELCAC was created as a government organization under the Office of the President of the Philippines with the Philippine president serving as its chairman, and the National Security Advisor as its vice chairman. Other members include:
Secretaries of the following executive departments Department of National Defense Department of the Interior and Local Government Department of Justice Department of Social Welfare and Development Department of Education Department of Information and Communications Technology Department of Finance Department of Budget and Management Department of Public Works and Highways Department of Agrarian Reform Department of Trade and Industry Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Department of Health Department of Agriculture
Other Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs National Food Authority Administrator Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Director National Housing Authority General Manager Executive Secretary Special Assistant to the President Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Philippine National Police Chief National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Chairman National Economic and Development Authority Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary National Security Council Director General and Adviser National Bureau of Investigation Director Commission on Human Rights Chairman National Youth Commission Chairman Civil Service Commission Chairman National Anti-Poverty Commission Lead Convenor Commission on Higher Education Chairman Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director General Presidential Communications Office Chief Office of Civil Defense Administrator Presidential Adviser on Military and Police Affairs And two representatives from the private sector appointed by the President
Communications The NTF-ELCAC has eight spokespersons, each dedicated to certain matter/s. Prior to May 10, 2021, the task force only had two spokespersons. There are plans to have additional spokespersons to cover each of the Philippines' regions.
+NTF-ELCAC SpokespersonsOfficialOfficial designations and agencyCoverageVacant n/aSecurity Sector OperationsLorraine Marie BadoyUndersecretary, New Media and External Affairs Presidential Communications Operations OfficeSocial Media Affairs, Sectoral ConcernsJonathan MalayaUndersecretary, Plans, Public Affairs and Communication Department of the Interior and Local GovernmentLocal Government Affairs, Barangay Development ProgramSevero CaturaUndersecretary, Presidential Human Rights Committee SecretariatInternational Affairs, Peace Process, Human Rights ConcernsJose Joel Sy EgcoUndersecretary, Presidential Task Force on Media SecurityMass Media Engagement, Fact-CheckerVacantn/aNTF-ELCAC Public Affairs and Information Youth ConcernsMarlon BosantogRegional Director, Cordillera Autonomous Region Regional Director, Caraga Region National Commission on Indigenous PeoplesLegal Affairs, Indigenous Peoples ConcernsGaye FlorendoNational Commission on Indigenous PeoplesAssistant spokesperson on NTF-ELCAC Public Affairs and on Indigenous Peoples Concerns
Administrative and criminal complaints Some officials who served under the NTF-ELCAC face complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). In December 2020, Karapatan alleged in a complaint that Duterte supporter and NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy-Partosa is criminally and administratively liable for her "persistent, relentless and malicious red-tagging and vilification" of Karapatan. Also named in the complaint was then-NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade.