Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (File photo by JOAN BONDOC / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has put off prospects of a resumption of peace talks with communist rebels, even asserting the latter is only “after the advantages” that would favor them during negotiations.
“Yes. Because we are talking to them for the longest time at hindi naman nagpo-progreso eh. I always maintain that the CPP [Communist Party of the Philippines] will come to the negotiating table to talk peace. They are not after peace. They are after the advantages,” Lorenzana told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Tuesday when asked if it was the “final goodbye” for the peace talks.
He cited the release of 21 communist rebels in 2016 after negotiating with President Rodrigo Duterte.
“They were able to go around. They went to Oslo [for peace talks], our troops were prevented from operating against them. They were able to recover the barangays thay we have taken from them. What did we get? Nothing. They were trying to take advantage of the peace talks,” Lorenzana said.
The Duterte administration terminated peace talks with communists last November following after a series of supposed attacks carried out by members of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the CPP, against government forces and civilians.
Duterte also issued a declaration tagging the communist rebels as a terrorist group.
Right from the start, Lorenzana said he believed the peace talks between the administration and the rebels – a campaign promise of Duterte – would not work.
“They are actually the ones who are preventing this country from progressing. What they do is burn the equipment of contractors, extort money from miners in Eastern Mindanao,” he claimed.
Reports from the intelligence community indicated that the communist rebels have so far extorted around P1.2 billion from businesses in Eastern Mindanao.
The Defense chief said the terrorist tag would “give more teeth” to capture the communist leaders.
“We can already arrest those who are roaming around,” he said.
This time, Lorenzana thinks the termination of peace talks by the government is “for good.”
“I think it’s for good. Especially there are lots of surrenderees because the President has given them incentives to come down. As of latest there are close to 4,000 regular supporters that have surrendered,” he noted.
According to Lorenzana’s estimates, there are only less than 4,000-armed communist rebels left in the country. But he also admitted that “their support is so huge.”