Senator Win Gatchalian is proposing the possibility of merging the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), saying such a move would enhance operational efficiency since both share the common goal of promoting peace in the countryside. 

“I fully support initiatives that would deliver peace in the countryside. But from a policy point of view, let’s look at how we can make the government more efficient by putting OPAPRU and NTF-ELCAC into one entity,” said Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, at a recent hearing of OPAPRU’s proposed budget for 2026. 

He pointed out that the two agencies share the same goal of promoting peace in the countryside, partly by delivering micro-infrastructure projects to barangays vulnerable to insurgency. He cited a presentation by NTF-ELCAC earlier this month to justify its proposed budget for next year.

Merging the two agencies would create one agency that would be the focal point for issues relating to peace and order in the countryside, Gatchalian emphasized.