LOOK: Sec. Estrella leads first Regional Task Force Coordination Meeting in his capacity as Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) of the Ilocos Region

Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III started the year with a productive, inter-agency meeting, hardly two weeks into 2024.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) chief presided over the Regional Task Force 1 to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF1-ELCAC) Coordination Meeting in his capacity as Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) of the region.

The meeting comprised top officials from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and various national government agencies, who are also designated as heads of the 12 clusters of the RTF1-ELCAC.

During the activity, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity presented the accomplishment report for the previous year. Other agencies presented their programs in line with the government’s efforts to put an end to insurgency, which Sec. Estrella promised to support.

“Let’s make Region 1 the championship team of the Philippines,” the DAR chief pronounced.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. approved the designation of Sec. Estrella as CORDS on July 2023. Former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. preceded him in the designation. (Dexter Miranda/CP II and Zarena Ann Amado/ARPO I) ###