MANILA — If the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) is really interested in forging a lasting and enduring peace with the government, they must demonstrate sincerity in the peace process.
This was reiterated by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Emmanuel Garcia Sunday when sought for a comment on the possible resumption of peace negotiations with the rebel group.
This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte expressed interest to resume the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the communist rebels after a recent meeting with Norwegian government officials.
To demonstrate this, he said the CPP-NPA-NDF must stop atrocities and other senseless attacks on military and civilians aside from their extortion and other criminal activities.
On Nov. 23, 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation 360, ordering the termination of all peace negotiations and meetings with the rebel group.
The termination was an offshoot of the rebel atrocities and other acts of violence against civilians and security forces. Garcia also stressed that the AFP will always follow the policy direction of the political leadership.
“We leave it to our political leaders to decide on political questions and we will always follow legally mandated decisions,” he emphasized.
Also, the military takes cognizance of the need to have a just and lasting peace in the country and the AFP supports every effort to achieve this. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
