Negros Occidental gov to form peace panel to meet with Reds

BACOLOD CITY—Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he would create, through an executive order, a panel to talk peace with communist rebels.

The peace panel, he said, will be a multi-sectoral body that will include representatives from the private sector, including the Church and the academe.

“This is in compliance with a national government directive and they will be guided by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process,” he said.

“This is one of the targets of the Duterte administration to end the communist armed struggle on the local level,” he added.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has asked local governments in Negros Occidental to also submit the composition of their peace panels.

Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said he was supporting the move to create the panel for local peace talks to give communist rebels a chance to air their frustrations against the government so solutions can be found.

Pasaporte said the communist rebel unit operating in the province was having problems and its members are being demoralized by the many setbacks they suffered as a result of sustained military operations.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command in the Visayas has declared that it had dismantled the New People’s Army unit operating on Negros Island.

Pasaporte said the Army was also aiming to dismantle the NPA’s Central Negros Front after the killing of 10 guerrillas and the collapse of its political organization in remote areas.

TSB