In a bid to end the five-decade-old insurgency problem, Senator Panfilo Lacson said it is high time the government focuses its peace efforts with communist rebels on those who do not listen to Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison.
Saying the strength of New People’s Army rebels varies in various localities, Lacson said such efforts, coupled with localized peace talks, is the better way to stop the problem with communist rebels.
“Such a move is long in coming. I have always believed that this is the better way to deal with the five-decade insurgency problem,” Lacson said.
The senator had dealt with the communist New People’s Army as a member of the now-Philippine National Police which he headed from 1999 to 2001.
“I have been batting for localized peace talks and in fact strongly suggested the same to former Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in one committee hearing of the Senate Committee on Peace and Unification chaired and presided by Senator Gregorio Honasan II,” he added.
Earlier reports indicated the government is planning to form a panel to resume talks with the communist rebels, particularly those not listening to Sison.
The government is also moving toward localized peace talks with communist rebels, regardless whether Sison approves it or not.
Military officials had noted the CPP under Sison may have used legal fronts to amass at least P7.3 billion in past years from non-government organizations.
Lacson said that while governors and mayors can deal with guerrilla leaders in areas where the NPA is not that influential, the military can focus on areas where the NPAs are a threat.
“So it is better that governors and mayors and other LGU officials be the ones to talk to local communist guerrillas, under the guidance and direction of a government peace panel that will provide the parameters for such localized peace talks but with enough flexibility in handling such peace initiatives,” he said.
Lacson added it is useless to deal with Sison, as he does not have control over the NPA despite making outrageous demands, including those that would make the CPP part of a coalition government – a possible prelude to a communist takeover.
“Experience has shown that while Sison asks for a ceasefire and government accommodates his request, NPAs continue conducting ambushes and raids. This shows Sison no longer has control over the NPA’s armed regulars,” Lacson said.
As this developed, the Armed Forces of the Philippines welcomed the proposed new peace panel that will oversee localized peace engagements an official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said.
“Fifty years of deception, lies, exploitation of the IP (Indigenous Peoples) and extortion is enough. We are prepared to offer not only the hand of peace but the whole arm if need be,” Col. Noel Detoyato, AFP public affairs office chief, told reporters in a text message on Monday.
Over the weekend, President Rodrigo R. Duterte has indicated his intention to create a new peace panel with at least three representatives from the military.
Detoyato said in order for this to proceed, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chair Jose Maria “Joma” Sison must show good faith and credibility.
“But first, Mr. Sison has to show sanity and coherence. He must also accept the fact that there are many roads towards peace but the road he has taken is not one of them. Let’s go local. Let’s help each other here in the Philippines. The problem is here, not in the Netherlands,” he said.
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, Jr., earlier said through the new peace panel, the government will be “directly engaging the people on the ground to address the fundamentals of the problem”.
He said the new peace panel is in line with the whole-of-nation approach as embodied in Executive Order 70, which provides for the creation of a national task force to end local communist armed conflict, as well as the adoption of a national peace framework that will contain policies addressing the root causes of insurgencies.
Galvez said it is through localized peace engagements where the government can create an environment for the peace process to move forward.