The revival of peace talks to resolve the issue of red-tagging and chaos by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) has emerged in the Senate discussion Monday.
National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon stated that the revival of peace talks is an option since President Rodrigo R. Duterte has not closed the possibility of discussing peace.
However, Sec. Esperon disclosed that the leftist group’s lack of sincerity in achieving prolonged peace in the country is an immense issue. He added that the CPP-NPA-NDF is only using peace talks to push for its true agenda.
“Ang peace talk ay isang paraan lamang para isulong ang kanilang armed revolution at alam na naming lahat ‘yan (Peace talk is a way for them to push for armed revolution and we all know that).”
Southern Luzon Command Chief Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade cited that the leftist group will only use peace talks as an opportunity to release their identified political prisoners such as the couple Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria. Tiamzon and Austria were released in 2016 after being allowed to bail to attend peace talks but soon after the 2 were found guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
Meanwhile, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) asserted that it is prepared to recommend to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to prohibit party list groups that allegedly support the Reds in the next election. – Report from Bea Bernardo
