A Joint Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) - Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) and Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) Meeting was presided over by Governor Hermogenes E. Ebdane, Jr., on June 24, 2020 at Balin Sambali, Iba, Zambales. Programs, projects and activities (PPAs) were synchronized to come up with strategic and systematic interventions to support the National Government in its efforts to maintain peace and order and safety despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The activity, in coordination with DILG Zambales headed by PD Armi V. Bactad, was attended by PPOC and PADAC Members, PTF-ELCAC Members, DILG Zambales Team and other local functionaries.
Representatives from the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Zambales Police Provincial Office (ZPPO) presented their reports on the current situation of Zambales focusing on the threats of Terrorism, Insurgency, Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict, Criminality, and Illegal Drugs. Accomplishment Report and Ways Forward on the War on Drugs in Zambales were also presented on the said activity.
In addition, three (3) Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP)-Accredited Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) were confirmed as members of the PPOC as PPOC Resolution No. 1, series of 2020 was approved.
The activity also served as a venue for consultation of the possible policies, strategies and approaches to respond to safety demands of the forthcoming "new normal".