Local peace talks in Davao City may proceed – Palace
MANILA, Philippines — Davao City’s own peace efforts may continue, Malacañang said Thursday, after presidential daughter and Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio asked that her hometown be excluded from the planned resumption of peace talks with the communist rebels.
In a Palace briefing, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said President Rodrigo Duterte told him that “localized peace talks can still proceed” when they discussed his daughter’s request.
“Basta sinabi – kasi tinanong ko siya, sabi niya: ‘Okay lang ‘yan, wala pa namang talks. Basta tuloy pa rin iyong mga ginagawa nila noon, localized’,” Panelo said.
(He just said – because I asked him, he said: ‘It’s okay, there no official peace talks yet. They can keep doing what the are doing there, the localized [peace talks].)
The younger Duterte on Monday asked for the exclusion of her city from the government’s ceasefire with the New People’s Army over the holidays as she warned that rebels might only take advantage of the holiday season to stage more attacks.
Duterte-Carpio also asked that her hometown be excluded from the peace talks with the communist rebels when it officially reopens, citing the achievements of the local peace initiative Peace 911, which she said is a more effective way in winning back strongholds of rebels.
However, it is unclear if the President will allow the exclusion of Davao City from the holiday ceasefire from December 23, 2019 to January 7, 2020.
Asked if state troopers’ offensive will continue in Davao City, Panelo said: “Unang-una, wala namang military offensive doon eh. I don’t think there is a military offensive right now kasi nga nagkakaroon – mayroong precise, localized peacetalks eh. When you’re having peace talks, wala kayong military offensive.”
(First of all, there is no military offensive there. I don’t think there is a military offensive there right now because it is – there are localized peace talks. When you have peace talks, you have no military offensive.)
Edited by KGA
