SERVING JUSTICE: ZDS PTF-ELCAC Beefs Up Legal Offensive Against NPA Terrorists

The Legal Cooperation Cluster of the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ZDS PTF-ELCAC) gears to beef up legal offensives against Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) Terrorists as it held a meeting yesterday, October 14, 2022, at Subanen Hall, Provincial Government Center, Barangay Dao, Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.

Atty. Jose Ruel Saniel, the Provincial Legal Officer and the chairperson of the ZDS PTF-ELCAC Legal Cooperation Cluster, presided the said meeting.

The Philippine Army’s 53rd Infantry “Matapat” Battalion (53IB) also recognized the invaluable services rendered by the Legal Cooperation Cluster and its legal practitionerswho worked diligently for the dismissal of legal cases against Friends Rescued (FRs) and for continuing to prosecute those who still refuse to return to the folds of law.

Present during the meeting were ZDS Provincial Prosecutor Mary Ann W. Tugbang-Torres, 53IB Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Terence P. Ylanan, 44IB Commanding Officer Filven S. Noche, representatives from the Army’s 97IB and 10IB, and Cpt. Concha from 1st Infantry (TABAK) Division’s Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAGO).

Led by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in the national level, the Legal Cooperation Cluster shall enhance the policy direction and capacity building strategies through the fortification of the legal arms of all the agencies and units of the government and their stakeholders by equipping them with effective and adequate legal skills and knowledge relevant to the communist-terrorist predicaments confronting the government’s efforts to put an end to local communist armed conflict.