Abolish the NTF-ELCAC! Activism is not Terrorism!
Condemnation statement on the attendance of NTF-ELCAC at the 4th United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week in New York
BAYAN USA and Malaya Movement USA strongly condemn the attendance of the so-called "National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict"(NTF-ELCAC) and other representatives of Marcos' fascist state apparatus at the 4th United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week (UNCTW) in New York.
The NTF-ELCAC delegation is clearly a desperate attempt to recover the public image of the corrupt US-Marcos regime, especially on the heels of mass agitation around the Negros 19 massacre, where the Armed Forces of the Philippines killed 19 Filipinos, including 2 Filipino Americans. The visit also comes after our successful campaign to defeat Marcos’ bid for a United Nations Security Council seat, exposing the administration as the #1 security threat to the Filipino people. The US-Marcos regime's credibility is quickly eroding under the pressure of a mass movement fighting to hold the government accountable for their crimes.
The NTF-ELCAC comes to New York with the people's blood on their hands. This task force was created under President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently jailed and charged with crimes against humanity under the International Criminal Court. Just as it did under Duterte, the task force continues to "terror-tag" its own citizens, a tactic used to surveil, harass, and threaten activists, journalists, labor leaders, environmental defenders, and even celebrities who are critical of the government. From weaponizing social media to collaborating with the military, the NTF-ELCAC stokes violence towards Filipinos at home and across the world, leading to the deaths of thousands of Filipinos, erasing any credibility that they will bring peace in our homeland.
The Philippines' high level delegation is comprised of Executive Director Ernesto Torres, Jr of the NTF-ELCAC, Undersecretary Bernardo C Florece, Jr of Anti-Terrorism Council - Program Management Center (ATC-PMC, Assistant Director General Francis Jude Lauengco of the National Security Council (NSC), Police Major General Rodolfo A. Tor (Retired) of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and other diplomats from the Philippine delegation to the UN.
This UN delegation is squandering the Filipino people’s money to come to New York once again and meet with Filipino American community members in a pathetic attempt to fear-monger and smear the names of progressive organizations like BAYAN USA, Gabriela USA, Anakbayan USA, and Migrante USA. When confronted by Filipino American activists at the NTF-ELCAC organized townhall at the Philippine Consulate General of NY, they refused to engage us. This is an act of a desperate and cowardly regime, pathetically retaliating against the advancements of the people’s movement. They spread lies to discredit the overseas movement all while the Philippine government is the real terrorist and enemy of the Filipino people, having designed, defended, and celebrated enforced disappearances, torture, and killings, including the Negros 19.
At the same time as the UN Counter-Terrorism Week, more than a thousand Filipinos across the country representing dozens of organizations attended a historic gathering of Filipinos at Kalayaan Summit in the Southern California. Organizations, families and community leaders discussed the most pressing issues that face Filipinos across the globe, including economic exploitation, attacks from ICE, land-grabbing, government corruption and heightened militarization and state violence by the US-Marcos regime. The NTF-ELCAC cares nothing about these issues. The Kalayaan Summit is proof that the people are ready and organized to expose and isolate the US-Marcos regime as the #1 terrorist for its brutal record of human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law.
Across the world, organizations are taking action as the NTF-ELCAC spreads lies at the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week. More and more, the NTF-ELCAC and the Marcos Jr. regime are being diplomatically isolated and condemned, with even UN Special rapporteur Irene Khan speaking out against the NTF-ELCAC’s violations of the rights of its own people and calling for its abolishment.
We call on our kababayan and allies to join us in exposing the Marcos regime and NTF-ELCAC for what they truly are: puppets of the United States and its corporate oligarchy and a threat to the security and livelihoods of Filipinos. It's the Philippine state that terrorizes its own people. The people's mass movement, and our demands for national sovereignty and genuine democracy, will remain steadfast in upholding the dignity and rights of our people.
