The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday said a total of 1,546 local government units (LGUs) across the country have declared the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) as persona non grata.

According to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, out of the 1,715 LGUs nationwide, 1,546 or 64 provinces, 110 cities, and 1,372 municipalities have passed resolutions declaring communist terrorist groups (CTGs) as persona non grata.

Año said the remaining 169 LGUs are in various stages of deliberation in their respective provincial, city, and municipal councils.

Some 12,474 barangays nationwide have also declared the CPP-NPA-NDF as persona non grata.

Based on DILG records, among the 17 regions nationwide, six regions have reached a 100 percent declaration of persona non grata to the CPP-NPA-NDF, namely Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Mimaropa, (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) and Cordillera Administrative Region.

Four regions are nearing absolute declaration of persona non grata, with Ilocos at 99 percent declaration, Cagayan Valley at 98 percent, Northern Mindanao at 95 percent, and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, Rizal) at 94 percent.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), out of the 16 cities and one municipality, nine cities have passed resolutions condemning the CTGs and declaring CPP-NPA-NDF as persona non grata, namely Caloocan, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasig, Quezon, San Juan, and Valenzuela.

Año congratulated the LGUs for "stepping up, helping the national government, and letting themselves be counted among the growing number of local governments that want the reign of terror of the CTGs in the countryside to end after more than 50 years."

"Much like the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to finally end this very old problem using a whole-of-nation approach, and the support from our LGUs gives us great assurance that we are not alone in this war against these atheists, Maoist terrorists,” he added.

Año considered the support of LGUs as a turning point in the battle against the communist rebels as the government has since shifted from the military-centric approach to the whole-of-society approach where all government agencies from national to LGUs, including the private sector work to bring peace to the countryside.

“Under the umbrella of NTF-ELCAC chaired by the President himself, we have organized inter-agency local ELCAC task forces with 17 regional task forces, 81 provincial task forces, 1,405 city, and municipal task forces, and 26,044 barangay task forces,” he said.

He said the support from the LGUs is timely especially as the country faces the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, where more people in far-flung communities are more vulnerable to recruitment by the CPP-NPA-NDF.

Año said they are optimistic that the number of LGUs declaring CPP-NPA-NDF as persona non grata will continue to rise by next year.

“The DILG is looking forward to seeing more LGUs join us in this fight against Communist terrorism. We cannot allow these groups to continue killing people, the time has come to finally put an end to their wicked ways,” he said. Ella Dionisio/DMS