Progressive groups in Central Visayas denounced the Cebu local government’s formation of the Provincial Task Force-Elcac during the last week of December 2025. The agency was created under Executive Order No. 61, Series of 2025, issued by Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro.
Like its national counterpart, the National Task Force-Elcac, the agency declares its goal to implement coordinated efforts to address “insurgency” in Cebu. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) declared the province “insurgency-free” as far back as March 2010, nearly two decades ago.
According to Karapatan-Central Visayas, the creation of the said agency by the local government in Cebu is seriously alarming for human rights concerns. It also threatens communities, especially amid the intensifying militarization and repression of civil liberties, the group said.
Since its establishment in 2018, the NTF-Elcac has gained notoriety for profiling activists, red-tagging civilians, harassing communities, and forcing individuals to “surrender” as “rebels.” Karapatan-CV is certain that its Cebu local branch will further aggravate the people’s long-standing suffering from human rights violations in the province.
Since 2025, the group has recorded heightened military presence and accompanying repression in communities where residents continue to assert their rights. These include the farming and fishing communities in Toledo City, Minglanilla, Pinamungaran, and Aloguinsan. “We fear that the task force will only intensify these abuses under the guise of ‘peace and order’,” the group said.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Central Visayas also believes that the PTF-Elcac will not help the Cebuanos since the crisis in he province is not a matter of security. According to the group, the province’s crisis involves hunger, unemployment, rising prices of goods, unsafe workplaces, lack of affordable housing, poor health services, and worsening environmental destruction.
“Creating another Elcac body will not solve these problems. It only diverts public funds away from the people’s real needs,” Bayan-Central Visayas said. The group urged the local government to revoke the order that established the PTF-Elcac.
Gov. Baricuatro will lead as chairperson and Vice Gov. Glenn Anthony Soco as vice chairperson of the newly formed agency. High-ranking officials from the security and justice sectors, the local government, and representatives from civil society organizations will also join the agency.
The Special Action Committee of the Provincial Peace and Order Council and representatives of religious groups, including the Archbishop of Cebu, will reportedly serve as “advisers” to the PTF-Elcac. The Office of the Governor is set to fund agency.
