To effectively and efficiently communicate government programs and efforts to the geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas inhabited by Indigenous Peoples (IPs), the Philippine Army’s 53rd Infantry “Matapat” Battalion (53IB) initiated to translate the “Breaking Free” book authored by Pagadian-based author Leah Agonoy into Subanen with the help of National Commission on Indigenous Peoples – Region 9 (NCIP-IX) headed by NCIP-IX Regional Director Mercilyn Hatad and a team of Subanen Scholars led by Prof. Ronald Paquing.

The book “Breaking Free” features narrations of actual accounts of young people’s fateful journeys who were recruited and once deceived by the CPP-NPA but were able to surrender and went back to the folds of the law. This will further boost the efforts of the Strategic Communications (StratCom) Cluster, one of the 12 lines of efforts of the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC).

It is the ELCAC cluster that shall conduct strategic communications efforts to disseminate information on government programs and counter the national propaganda of the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs), while creating external mechanisms to facilitate public engagement and policy support.