Military, police back resumption of peace talks with communists

New People’s Army rebels. (File photo from the Armed Forces of the Philippines)

MANILA, Philippines — Both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) backed the resumption of peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), calling it a welcome development.

The AFP chief of staff, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., and the PNP chief, General Benjamin Acorda Jr., said both the military and the police would want to see an end to the decades-old conflict.

“For the Armed Forces of the Philippines, this is very good news for us, because it is the soldier more than anybody else who wants lasting peace, who wants this conflict to finally end,” Brawner said in a briefing at Malacañang Palace.

“For us, this fight seems to have become personal. Many of our comrades have died in this insurgency. Many of our relatives — my cousin included — died in the hands of the New People’s Army,” he added, speaking in Filipino.

READ: CPP lays out demands to bolster peace negotiations between gov’t, NDFP

Meanwhile, Acorda said he lamented every time he had to award medals to wounded police officers or, worse, extend condolences to the families of fallen officers.

“I hope this will lead really to a long and lasting peace. And I look at it as a way of adding more food to the table of Filipinos and instead of spending more money on ammunition and other armaments,” Acorda said.