On 17 March 2016, in order to further fulfill the mandate of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to secure the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory, a Memorandum Circular No. 94 creating of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) was formally established. National Task Force-West Philippine
Sea was created to address the country’s coherent approach in addressing the West Philippine Sea issue for the purpose of orchestrating the national effort and achieving unified action in the West Philippine Sea. ATF will align with the guidance and direction from the NTF-WPS. Concerned government agencies will closely coordinate with the ATF in the employment of their capabilities, assets, equipments and personnel. ATF- North is not purely military, rather, a whole of nation approach in which we mobilize the fisher folks in the area to assert their rights in the Shoal. Inter-agency team work is necessary to ensure our sovereignty in our territory. On April 2016, NOLCOM marks its sovereignty up north. The hoisting of the Philippine flag on Mavulis or Yami Island was held as a gesture signifying the country’s sovereignty in its northernmost territory. On 12 June 2017, the mounting of an underwater flag in the Philippine Rise off the coast of the province of Aurora. Formerly called the Benham Rise, the Philippine Rise was declared by the United Nations as part of the country's Exclusive Economic Zone in 2012. NOLCOM’s Community Support Programs (CSPs) such as the “All-in-One-Bayanihan” which are conducted on multiple areas in Northern and Central Luzon that focuses on providing support efforts to the Geographically Isolated and Displaced Areas (GIDAS) in NOLCOM’s AOR have contributed greatly to the increased rate of rebel surrenderees. Such activity also intensified stakeholders’ engagement in connection to successful completion of these projects. NOLCOM with its mandate of protecting its people and our territory will also continue to strive in nurturing the welfare and well-being of our countrymen by providing social services that will help relieve some of their commonly-neglected needs. With the help of different stakeholders, NOLCOM will continuously organize activities such as this in order to achieve nation integration. On October, 2018, a two-day Peace Summit for former rebels with the theme “Bukas-loob na pagtanggap para sa pagbabago” conducted at Headquarters NOLCOM and was personally witnessed by Secretary of National Defense (SND) Delfin Lorenzana and DILG Secretary Eduardo Año. The Peace Summit was conducted to ensure and facilitate that each rebel returnees have been and are able to receive the benefits from the Enhanced Comprehensive Localized Integration Program (E-CLIP) such as; Immediate Assistance, Reintegration Assistance, Fi***rm Remuneration Livelihood Assistance, Housing, Conditional Transitional Grant, Livelihood Materials And Implements Or Employment Assistance, Access To Government Service, Loan And Market Access, Medical Assistance, Alternative Learning System, Psychosocial Assistance, College Tuition And Stipend, and Legal Assistance. The ECLIP does not only provide financial assistance to the rebel returnees, but it also gives a chance to the rebels to turn their life around and be one again with their families and the nation. On 27 August 2018, is the institutionalization of the Northern Luzon Heroes Foundation at Camp Aquino Memorial Park which aims to provide additional support to the soldiers who were Killed in Action (KIA) in defense of various communities against local terrorists and other enemies of state and those who survived suffered loss of limbs or extremities making them incapable to function normally, thereby causing their discharge from the service. On 27 May 2019, Nolcom hands over fishermen’s shelter and fish dryer projects to the Batanes LGU. The fishermen's shelter otherwise known as Mavulis Project is a gesture of shared resources from various stakeholders. This is AFP's gesture of support to the Filipino fishermen and manifest our commitment in protecting our sovereignty and asserting our ownership in this territory. On 18 August 2020, The Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) and Naval Forces Northern Luzon (NFNL) completed the construction and installation of sovereign markers in 11 uninhabited islands in Northern Philippines. These islands which belong to the Babuyan Island Group and Batanes Group of Island are Ali Island, Itbayat Batanes, Dinem Island, Itbayat Batanes, Siayan Island, Itbayat Batanes, Misanga Island, Itbayat Batanes, Vohos Island, Sabtang Batanes, Dequey Island, Sabtang Batanes, Pinon Island, Calayan Cagayan, Pamoctan Island, Calayan Cagayan, Balintang Island, Calayan Cagayan, Palaui Island, Sta Ana Cagayan, Dos Hermanas Island, Sta Ana Cagayan. The sovereign marker symbolizes the assertion of our country’s absolute sovereignty over the said uninhabited islands and over the surrounding territorial waters. This also signifies actual physical occupation and development efforts that remove any doubt on the Philippines’ ownership of these islands. The instruction for NOLCOM and NFNL to construct and install sovereign markers in the northern-most uninhabited islands came directly from the Commander-in-Chief, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, during his visit last year, after he made his aerial ocular inspection of the earthquake-stricken island of Itbayat. The 11 islands were selected based on their strategic relevance. These islands are conspicuously located at the fringes of the island clusters of the Babuyan Group of Islands (BGI) and the Batanes Island Group (BIG), making the sovereign markers clearly visible to ships transiting the waterways connecting the West Philippine Sea and Pacific Ocean.
