BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon
The resumption of peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines is now putting the President Bongbong Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte on collision course after the latter branded said talks “an agreement with the devil.”
This has elicited a lot of comments on media and online platforms.
Here is a statement from the militant groups KARAPATAN:
“Vice President Sara Duterte’s comments against the resumption of peace talks between the NDFP and the GRP are no surprise.
Since the onset of her term, and even during the campaign period, she has rejected and repudiated peace talks between the two parties as a way of addressing the roots of armed conflict and prefers to utilize to the hilt the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), of which she is vice chair, to further orchestrate militarist campaigns in their bid to crush the armed resistance.
Perhaps the peace the Vice President aspires for is the peace of the graveyard — an end to dissent, to vigorous democratic discourse and debate and the quest for better alternatives for our people. Her contempt for the GRP-NDFP peace talks and rabid espousal of the NTF-ELCAC is anathema to the people’s quest for peace and justice.
KARAPATAN believes that the NTF-ELCAC, in its five years of existence, and its whole of nation approach have not addressed the root causes of the armed conflict in the country. Rather, counterinsurgency schemes with militarist approaches have only resulted in grave human and people’s rights violations as well as violations of International Humanitarian Law.
The GRP-NDFP peace talks is an opportunity to tackle these root causes, including issues on land monopoly, low wages, high prices of goods and services, the regressive tax system, pro-monopoly capitalist investment regulations, unfair trade, and onerous debt.
The peace talks have also delved in the development of multiple sectors of the economy in agriculture, industry, and services. Policies concerning basic rights to health, education, water, electricity, transportation, communication and culture, among others, are subjects of discussion in the draft of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms.
This peace process has birthed the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, which outlines individual and collective freedoms and human rights in the political, social, economic and cultural spheres and the principles of IHL in the domestic context. The Joint Monitoring Committee to monitor the implementation of the CARHRIHL remains a viable option for redress for victims of human rights violations, their families and communities.
At the time the peace talks were scuttled in 2017, the draft CASER was close to being completed and approved by both parties and the reciprocal working groups on the Comprehensive Agreement on Political and Constitutional Reforms were gearing to meet. There were prospects for social justice and lasting peace.
KARAPATAN is one with the overwhelming majority of peace and human rights advocates, and people’s organizations of peasants, workers, indigenous peoples, women, and youth in calling for the resumption of the peace talks and the quest for just and lasting peace. We will not relent, even in the face of attempts by peace spoilers to deprive our people of this opportunity.
***
Vice President Duterte released a statement earlier saying the “Marcos administration’s agreement with communist rebels to resume peace negotiations to end the decades-old communist armed conflict is an agreement with the devil,” urging President Marcos to reconsider his decision.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, on the other hand, categorically threw his full support behind his cousin’s move to reopen peace talks with the communist rebels, which were suspended in 2019 during the incumbency of the Vice President’s father.
In her message on the fifth anniversary of the National Task Force to End Local
Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) – an agency created by her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, in 2018 after his relations with communists soured – the Vice President said reconsidering the resumption of peace talks would “honor the memory of those who died in the senseless and bloody attacks” of communist rebels.
“I support the steps to establish peace in our country because the fight against terrorists is deeply personal to me, as it is deeply personal to the families of countless Filipinos whose lives were forever upended because of the madness of terrorists,” the younger Duterte said in the recorded message.
“But giving out amnesty cannot lead the way to peace. What we need to do is continue what the NTF-ELCAC started and make these stronger. We’ve already won as communities continue to fight,” she added.
Last week, the Marcos administration and the NDF, the political wing of the CPP, agreed to a “principled and peaceful resolution” to the longest insurgency in Asia in a joint statement dated Nov. 23 and signed in Oslo, Norway.
The move was touted as a linchpin that could finally settle the conflict within the term of Marcos, whose father’s dictatorship launched the decades-old battle between state forces and communist rebels.
While the public might welcome the move, the former president’s supporters might see it as an undoing of sorts of the previous administration’s scorched-earth policy against the communist movement.
The Vice President called the amnesty and resumption of peace talks a deal “with the devil” and a sign of letting the “enemies” win.
“Mr. President, the government’s statement with the NDF in Oslo was an agreement with the devil. History has proven how unserious and insincere they are in peace talks. They will use the peace negotiations to betray the government and deceive the public. We appeal to your power to review these proclamations and agreements,” the younger Duterte said.
“Let us honor the memory of those who died in the senseless and bloody attacks of the NPA-CPP-NDF. Mr. President, we can negotiate for peace and reconciliation and pursue meaningful development efforts in the Philippines without capitulating to the enemies,” she added.
For Romualdez it is worth giving peace a chance without resorting to war.
“Enough of the war. Our citizens are tired of conflicts. Let’s give peace a chance,” he said.
“This negotiation is more than just a political maneuver; it is a moral imperative, a chance to mend the fissures that have long divided our nation. We are not just negotiating terms; we are weaving the fabric of a peaceful future for every Filipino,” he added.
The Speaker enjoined the public to “embrace this opportunity with open hearts and minds, fostering an environment where peace can flourish.”
“Together, under President Marcos’ leadership, we shall strive toward a Philippines that is not only prosperous, but also harmonious and united in its diversity,” he declared.
“Let tonight’s ceremony stand as a symbol of our continuing commitment. That we, at the House as a nation-loving institution, will not waver, that we will remain steadfast in our solemn duty to be shining lights for peace, comfort, security, understanding and unity for our country. Let this be our gift for our countrymen this Christmas,” he added.
The resumption of peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines is now putting the President Bongbong Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte on collision course after the latter branded said talks “an agreement with the devil.”
This has elicited a lot of comments on media and online platforms.
Here is a statement from the militant groups KARAPATAN:
“Vice President Sara Duterte’s comments against the resumption of peace talks between the NDFP and the GRP are no surprise.
Since the onset of her term, and even during the campaign period, she has rejected and repudiated peace talks between the two parties as a way of addressing the roots of armed conflict and prefers to utilize to the hilt the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), of which she is vice chair, to further orchestrate militarist campaigns in their bid to crush the armed resistance.
Perhaps the peace the Vice President aspires for is the peace of the graveyard — an end to dissent, to vigorous democratic discourse and debate and the quest for better alternatives for our people. Her contempt for the GRP-NDFP peace talks and rabid espousal of the NTF-ELCAC is anathema to the people’s quest for peace and justice.
KARAPATAN believes that the NTF-ELCAC, in its five years of existence, and its whole of nation approach have not addressed the root causes of the armed conflict in the country. Rather, counterinsurgency schemes with militarist approaches have only resulted in grave human and people’s rights violations as well as violations of International Humanitarian Law.
The GRP-NDFP peace talks is an opportunity to tackle these root causes, including issues on land monopoly, low wages, high prices of goods and services, the regressive tax system, pro-monopoly capitalist investment regulations, unfair trade, and onerous debt.
The peace talks have also delved in the development of multiple sectors of the economy in agriculture, industry, and services. Policies concerning basic rights to health, education, water, electricity, transportation, communication and culture, among others, are subjects of discussion in the draft of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms.
This peace process has birthed the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, which outlines individual and collective freedoms and human rights in the political, social, economic and cultural spheres and the principles of IHL in the domestic context. The Joint Monitoring Committee to monitor the implementation of the CARHRIHL remains a viable option for redress for victims of human rights violations, their families and communities.
At the time the peace talks were scuttled in 2017, the draft CASER was close to being completed and approved by both parties and the reciprocal working groups on the Comprehensive Agreement on Political and Constitutional Reforms were gearing to meet. There were prospects for social justice and lasting peace.
KARAPATAN is one with the overwhelming majority of peace and human rights advocates, and people’s organizations of peasants, workers, indigenous peoples, women, and youth in calling for the resumption of the peace talks and the quest for just and lasting peace. We will not relent, even in the face of attempts by peace spoilers to deprive our people of this opportunity.
***
Vice President Duterte released a statement earlier saying the “Marcos administration’s agreement with communist rebels to resume peace negotiations to end the decades-old communist armed conflict is an agreement with the devil,” urging President Marcos to reconsider his decision.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, on the other hand, categorically threw his full support behind his cousin’s move to reopen peace talks with the communist rebels, which were suspended in 2019 during the incumbency of the Vice President’s father.
In her message on the fifth anniversary of the National Task Force to End Local
Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) – an agency created by her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, in 2018 after his relations with communists soured – the Vice President said reconsidering the resumption of peace talks would “honor the memory of those who died in the senseless and bloody attacks” of communist rebels.
“I support the steps to establish peace in our country because the fight against terrorists is deeply personal to me, as it is deeply personal to the families of countless Filipinos whose lives were forever upended because of the madness of terrorists,” the younger Duterte said in the recorded message.
“But giving out amnesty cannot lead the way to peace. What we need to do is continue what the NTF-ELCAC started and make these stronger. We’ve already won as communities continue to fight,” she added.
Last week, the Marcos administration and the NDF, the political wing of the CPP, agreed to a “principled and peaceful resolution” to the longest insurgency in Asia in a joint statement dated Nov. 23 and signed in Oslo, Norway.
The move was touted as a linchpin that could finally settle the conflict within the term of Marcos, whose father’s dictatorship launched the decades-old battle between state forces and communist rebels.
While the public might welcome the move, the former president’s supporters might see it as an undoing of sorts of the previous administration’s scorched-earth policy against the communist movement.
The Vice President called the amnesty and resumption of peace talks a deal “with the devil” and a sign of letting the “enemies” win.
“Mr. President, the government’s statement with the NDF in Oslo was an agreement with the devil. History has proven how unserious and insincere they are in peace talks. They will use the peace negotiations to betray the government and deceive the public. We appeal to your power to review these proclamations and agreements,” the younger Duterte said.
“Let us honor the memory of those who died in the senseless and bloody attacks of the NPA-CPP-NDF. Mr. President, we can negotiate for peace and reconciliation and pursue meaningful development efforts in the Philippines without capitulating to the enemies,” she added.
For Romualdez it is worth giving peace a chance without resorting to war.
“Enough of the war. Our citizens are tired of conflicts. Let’s give peace a chance,” he said.
“This negotiation is more than just a political maneuver; it is a moral imperative, a chance to mend the fissures that have long divided our nation. We are not just negotiating terms; we are weaving the fabric of a peaceful future for every Filipino,” he added.
The Speaker enjoined the public to “embrace this opportunity with open hearts and minds, fostering an environment where peace can flourish.”
“Together, under President Marcos’ leadership, we shall strive toward a Philippines that is not only prosperous, but also harmonious and united in its diversity,” he declared.
“Let tonight’s ceremony stand as a symbol of our continuing commitment. That we, at the House as a nation-loving institution, will not waver, that we will remain steadfast in our solemn duty to be shining lights for peace, comfort, security, understanding and unity for our country. Let this be our gift for our countrymen this Christmas,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment