Insincerity and treachery

True to form, Vice President Sara Duterte did not mince words in voicing her strong opposition to the resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and the CPP-NPA-NDFP. A peace accord with the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) is a pact with the devil, she cautioned the Marcos administration. 

Given Inday’s knowledge and experience in dealing with insurgents, the concurrent co-vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has the authority to speak on the issue. Even if it contradicts the position of her UniTeam alliance partner, President Bongbong Marcos, Jr. 

One of the VP’s crowning achievements as former Davao City mayor is ending the diabolical reign of the CPP-NPA. It is a success story that bears repeating. And for the national government to take careful note of. 

As the local chief executive of the first Mindanao city to be declared ‘insurgency-free,’ Sara institutionalized localized peace talks with communist rebels, particularly in the latter’s erstwhile stronghold of Paquibato district. Between 2019 and 2021, at least 125 rebel returnees benefited from the city government’s peacebuilding initiatives. The Peace 911 program addressed the root causes of insurgency in remote barangays through peace economy, good governance and rule of law, ancestral domain protection and rehabilitation and healing.

So, I applaud our ‘ballsy’ leader for hitting the nail on the head. The reason why the armed struggle has become one of the world’s longest is not for the lack of trying on the government’s part. It is due to the treachery and duplicity of the terrorist group. History has taught us that the CTG’s insincerity has led to the demise of negotiations with our previous administrations.

In 2017, former president Rodrigo Duterte officially terminated all government engagement with the CTG. Digong accused the terrorist group of killing soldiers, law enforcers and innocent civilians while negotiating for peace. The United Nations Security Council, through a 2001 Resolution, refers to terrorism as criminal acts against civilians that provoke a public state of terror or compel a government or an international