AFP vows: No ceasefire on communist insurgency

MANILA, Philippines — Even as amnesty was recently given to rebel returnees, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Saturday said “there would be no ceasefire” in the fight against communist insurgency.

Under Proclamations 403 to 406 released to the media on Friday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave amnesty to former members of different rebel groups, including the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

“While we are offering this opportunity for them to return to the folds of the law, we will continue to exert pressure,” AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

“We will continue to conduct security patrol. Kasi ‘yung encounter po, nangyayari naman ito dahil sila ay nandyan at lumalaban,” he added, pertaining to the rebel groups.

(Encounters with rebel groups happen because they are there and fighting.)

According to Aguilar, community-oriented internal security operations are conducted to secure the public.

Community support programs are done not only to drive away elements of the “communist-terrorist groups” but also to look at the well-being of the communities, Aguilar said.

“Because if there are issues left unanswered or unresolved, these are the very issues that the CPP-NPA-NDF are exploiting to agitate our communities against the government,” he pointed out.

“We want to remove that root cause of insurgency so that there will be a lasting peace in our country,” he added.

Furthermore, Aguilar reiterated that they welcome the amnesty grant, citing that it has been 50 years since the government has been fighting the communist insurgence of the groups.

“After we have reduced their capability to less than 1,500 right now, with no guerilla front active — most of the guerilla fronts are already weakened — and knowing, in fact, that some of them are actually facing criminal charges in court because of furtherance of rebellion, maybe it’s time to offer them this amnesty,” he said.

The amnesty removes the obstacle that prevents former rebels from returning to the folds of the law, Aguilar noted. It will also allow them to benefit from the enhanced comprehensive local integration program that the government

“Lahat naman ito is para maging mapayapa po ang ating bansa,” the spokesperson said.

(All of these are for our country to be peaceful.)

He added that if the government could win back more than 400 personalities facing rebellion-related charges, plus their supporters, it would be a big lift in the efforts to achieve peace in the country.

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