Lorenzana will not recommend resumption of peace talks with communists

April 3, 2018

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana reiterated Tuesday that he will not recommend resumption of peace negotiations with the communists.

“I have not made any recommendation verbal or written. He (President Rodrigo Duterte) knows my stand. And if he asks me what my recommendation is I would say 'No, sir, I would not recommend resuming the peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF.' I have been very vocal, spoken and in print, against any more talks with these terrorists,” said Lorenzana.

“Nothing good will ever come of it unless we agree to all their unreasonable demands. Then they will call that progress and take ownership,” he added.

Lorenzana made his reiteration after the National Democratic Front (NDF) Chief Negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said in an interview Monday they are open for the possible resumption of peace negotiations without preconditions with the government of the Philippines.

Lorenzana emphasized that the communist group are more eager to resume the peace negotiation because more members and supporters continued to surrender to government forces.

“Their fighters and mass base are surrendering in droves. As of last count, more than 4,000 have done so nationwide, with the bulk coming from Eastern Mindanao. More and more are returning to society because of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) and their desire to give their families a better future.

He also cited that other reason why the rebels want to resume the peace talks includes the tagging of CPP-NPA as terrorist group and the recent order of President Duterte to close the businesses who support the communist group.

“The President has given notice that any business found paying and helping the NPA would be closed. Rather than serve as milking cows of lazy insurgents, these establishments can cooperate with our authorities and enjoy the protection of our security forces without having to pay anything,” he said.

“They are about to be declared by the court as a terrorist organization. They can no longer hide their sinister plans and actions by using their political ideology as their legal cover,” he added.

In his statement, Lorenzana also responded to remarks against him by CPP Founding Chairman Jose Maria Sison and Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao.

Lorenzana said Sison claims he “obscure and deny the fact that against tremendous odds, the NPA has grown and gained strength nationwide from its modest beginnings…” is a far cry from reality.

“It proves that Mr. Sison is living in the past. If he doesn’t believe me, why doesn’t he come back and see for himself what happened to his class struggle? His Utopian ideology has been reduced to plain and simple banditry and extortion,” he said.

Lorenzana said “there is no agreed truce between the Philippine government and the CPP-NPA-NDFP”.

Responding to the statement of Casilao that “President Duterte should not listen to Lorenzana’s position that he will not recommend the resumption of talks. The fact that there are documents painstakingly drafted which served as the guidelines on the series of negotiations are proof that there are positive outcome of the talks.”

Lorenzana said the documents that “Rep. Casilao was referring to only signify that progress indeed, had been made but only on the side of CPP-NPA as those documents support only their cause.

“To say that there were positive outcomes of the talks which were mutually beneficial is deceptive,” he said.

“Mr. Sison and Rep. Casilao only highlighted their disconnect with the GRP’s idea of progress, as far as the peace talks are concerned. If we go back to the time when the peace talks were ongoing from September 2016 to February 2017, both sides declared unilateral ceasefires, but the NPA did not stand down,” he added.

Lorenzana noted that the communist group were using the peace negotiation “to further their ends.”

“In fact, they continued to extort, burn buses and other equipment, and attacked government forces more aggressively. How can they claim that there was progress in the talks when there wasn’t any? Opportunistic as they are, they were just using the talks to further their ends,” Lorenzana said.

“The CPP-NPA-NDF uses those draft agreements to show some semblance of progress when there were none. They are just smokescreens. How can a mere agreement to draft a ceasefire and agreed guidelines on negotiations be considered “progress” when members of their armed component, the NPA, continued attacking government forces, extorting from businessmen, and recruiting and expanding their forces?,” he added.

In a statement, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) condemned the attacks by the rebels during  Holy Week.

“We condemn in the strongest terms possible the recent attacks conducted by the Communist NPA Terrorists that disturbed the peaceful observance of the Holy Week and caused death and destruction in several communities in the country,” Brig. Gen. Bienvenido Datuin, AFP spokesman said.

“Despite declaring a halt to their tactical offensives for the holidays, four atrocities were launched by NPA terrorists targeting government troops as well as civilians and properties,” he added.

Datuin said rebel atrocities include “the attacks that resulted to the death of two newly surrendered NPA who are members of the Militia ng Bayan in Montevista, Compostela Valley.”

“The NPA terrorists ambushed the surrenderees and the soldiers accompanying them. The attack also endangered the lives of a barangay captain and a councilor who assisted the two former rebels. We believe that their former members are in possession of some knowledge that will expose the CPP-NPA-NDF,” he said

“The NPA terrorists also burned construction equipment including five units of backhoe, four dump trucks, and one bulldozer being used for the construction of a bypass road in Buhangin District, Davao City amounting to millions of pesos,” he added. Robina Asido/DMS