DAVAO CITY — The Davao City Local Peace Committee (DC PEACE) will buckle down to work next week for the guidelines on the local peace talks between the local government and the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in the city.
“Sa first meeting, naa ko didto para mag discuss mi sa among guidelines (In the coming first meeting, I will be there to discuss the guidelines),” City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said in an interview Wednesday after her weigh-in for the FitFil National Weight Loss Challenge.
Duterte-Carpio said the city government is set to release the appointment papers to the people who will be part of the DC PEACE within this week.
The peace committee will be chaired by retired Davao City Regional Trial Court Judge Ridgway Tanjili and the members are Archdiocese of Davao Archbishop and incoming Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Romulo Valles City Social Service and Development Office (CSSDO) head Malou Bermudo, Malabog Barangay Captain Jessie Areja, and lawyer Elisa Lapina from the City Legal Office.
Duterte-Carpio said that after the meeting next week, the committee will immediately conduct their dialogue with the CPP-NPA.
“Kita, nag-open lang ta sa channels kung interesado sila na makig-istorya and nay mga tao na authorized by the city government to talk to them (We are just opening channels for them if they are interested to have a dialogue and there are people who are authorized to talk with them),” she said.
Earlier, the city mayor said that the DC PEACE is given until November 30 next year for the dialogue with the CPP-NPA.
Duterte-Carpio said if there is no positive development “there is no point” that the city would continue the dialogue.
“There is more than one-year na sila makipagstorya (There is more than one year for them to talk with us),” she said.
She will also ask the committee to accommodate the members of the CPP-NPA who will surrender their firearms to the government.
Duterte-Carpio said she received around eight surrender fillers but she just told these people to address it to the committee. She also said that the members of the CPP-NPA need not to surrender their firearms because her plan is to make them work with the government.
“We are very flexible for that just to attain the elusive dream of peace,” she said. (PNA)
