NDFP ‘far removed from realities on the ground’ — Lorenzana

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana declared on Thursday that the agenda of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in the peace negotiations has been “far removed from the realities on the ground.”

This while the Defense chief also thought that the NDFP, the negotiating arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), “is fast becoming irrelevant” with the government’s “sincere efforts” to attain peace even without the formal negotiations.

In a statement on the 45th anniversary of the NDFP, Lorenzana said the group “represents what is wrong with the communist notion of peace.”

“With the government’s sincere efforts to achieve peace even without the formal talks, the NDFP is fast becoming irrelevant. Through the government’s various programs for reintegration, thousands of former rebels have rejoined society,” Lorenzana said.

“They talk peace with government far removed from the realities on the ground. While NDFP representatives negotiate with government in a foreign land, their armed comrades perpetrate deceptive and coercive recruitment and, at the same time, continue the conduct of extortion, kidnapping, murder, destruction of property, and other criminal acts, exposing their true terrorist nature,” he further said.

Lorenzana then renewed his call for communist rebels to return to folds of law.

“Under the President Duterte’s guidance, we are more determined than ever to extend our call for peace and unity – a call for the remaining CPP-NPA to lay down their arms, rejoin their families, fulfill their dreams, and serve as active partners for peace, development and community empowerment,” he said. /kga