Is peace talks with rebels doomed?

DAVAO CITY – The Department of National Defence has accused the Communist Party of the Philippines, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, of plotting to oust President Rodrigo Duterte and using the talks to recruit and consolidate its power.

Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he will recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte to terminate the peace talks with the communist group. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is also

opposed to communist demands for a coalition government and the release of hundreds of communist rebels from prisons across the country.

Duterte has delayed the resumption of the peace talks to allow more time for public consultations. But Lorenzana cited several reasons for his recommendation to end talks with the communist rebel group.

He said the rebels held the largest and the 2nd People’s Congress from October to November 2016 and the Central Committee Plenum on December of the same year which coincided with the government’s ceasefire with the New People’s Army. He added that during these two occasions, they communists crafted a 3year plan to advance the revolutionary movement, including Duterte’s ouster if he rejects the communist demand for a coalition government.

By January 2017, the National Military Commission of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army used the ceasefire to consolidate and recover their lost ground and mass bases, and expand their influence in the countryside as well.

And on May 2017, they formally launched the “Oust Duterte” to culminate on October 2018. Lorenzana said it is obvious that the rebels are not sincere in talking peace with the Duterte administration and put an end to the armed conflict.

He said the ongoing review of all peace documents and agreements revealed that it lays down the foundation of power-sharing towards a coalition government. In fact, Lorenzana added, the government peace panel during the Aquino administration recommended the abrogation of the talks because it realized that they were just being taken for a ride by the communists who were using the peace talks to get concessions such as the release of highranking party members and giving their armed components to recover lost grounds and mass base.

Majority of the indigenous tribes in Mindanao were also opposed to the government peace talks with rebels because it will only embolden the communist group to come or return to their communities and harassed them. They are also demanding that the communist rebel group to publicly apologize for their crimes and acts of terrorism, saying the New People’s Army had murdered thousands of innocent tribal members over the last five decades.

Lorenzana said the rebels have failed to comply with government conditions for the resumption of the peace talks and these include the rejection of the coalition government with communists, stop all arson and attacks on civilians, military and police targets, stop to all revolutionary taxation and extortion, and for the rebels to stay in their areas and to stop recruitment and mass mobilization of forces.

Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, said there would be no more peace negotiations with Manila and that they will work for Duterte’s ouster instead. The rebels have been fighting for many decades now for the establishment of a separate government. (Mindanao Examiner)