Peace group appeals to Duterte: Don’t kill talks with rebels

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The peace group Sowing the Seeds of Peace (SSP) has appealed to President Duterte not to extinguish all possibilities of resuming talks with the communist rebels.

In a statement, Iglesia Filipina Independiente  Bishop Felixberto Calang, SSP main convenor, said the Duterte administration would be killing the peace talks by declaring the Cabinet’s security cluster as the de facto head of the government negotiating panel.

“It is only the [Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)] that can now salvage the peace talks. That means the decision whether to finally save it or to finally kill it lies in the hands of the GRP,” Calang said.

He urged the President to give Presidential Peace Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza and government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III the “authentic delegated authority” to “uphold civilian supremacy” in the talks.

Ability to negotiate

“Their ability to negotiate should not be contravened or dictated by the security cluster,” Calang said.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque declined to identify the clergymen whom he claimed were conniving with communist insurgents in plots to topple the President.

‘No fake news’

“This is not fake news, this is already history,” Roque said when told that Manila Auxilliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo had stated that Roque’s failure to name names meant the latter was spreading fake news.

“We should learn from history. Let us not act blindly. Let’s not pretend (that) we do not know how the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army moves,” Roque added during a radio interview on Wednesday.

The Palace spokesperson said the communists were known to infiltrate different institutions.

Calang also urged the President to “genuinely create” a conducive environment for the talks.

“He can either go the way of being a benevolent leader and leave a legacy of genuine peace based on social justice, or he can force this peace upon the nation with the brutalities of an all-out war,” he said.

Calang also called on the rebels to consider the talks as a viable option.

“Peace might be elusive for them but they must… continue to make efforts to go back to the negotiating table,” he said. —Jigger Jerusalem and Christine O. Avendaño