Church groups urge peace talks with communists
MANILA, Philipines — A network of Church leaders has called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to reconvene the government peace panel and resume peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
In a letter to the president, the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) urged Marcos “to reconstitute the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) peace panel and resume the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, respecting the work and upholding the agreements that have been entered into by past leaderships.”
The statement was made on Thursday during the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Hague Joint Declaration, one of the few agreements reached in on-and-off negotiations since 1986, or 36 years ago.
PEPP said Mr. Marcos should “reconsider [his administration’s] approach to peace,” noting that the previous administration’s “all-out war policy failed to resolve the decades-old armed conflict.”
Social injustice
It pointed out that resources poured into the anti-insurgency campaign during the Duterte administration could have instead funded programs for poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
Article continues after this advertisementThe group also noted that the counterinsurgency program of the President’s father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, did nothing to resolve the social injustice brought by the decades-long conflict.
Article continues after this advertisementPEPP is composed of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, Conference of Major Superiors of the Philippines (formerly known as Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines) and the Ecumenical Bishops Forum.
Meanwhile, Makabayan backed Sen. Loren Legarda’s push to revive peace talks with communist rebels, calling her privilege speech a “wake-up call” to return to the negotiating table.
House Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Arlene Brosas welcomed the Senate President Pro Tempore’s remarks for the peace talks as “critical” in resolving the roots of the armed conflict.
‘Wake-up call’
“Senator Legarda’s position serves as a wake-up call for the government to continue the peace negotiations and take further steps toward the attainment of national sovereignty, democracy and social justice,” Brosas said in a statement.
She added: “The resumption of peace talks is critical toward finding a solution to address the historical and socio-economic roots of armed conflict. Sen. Legarda’s statement is a big deal amid the worsening Red-tagging and attacks against human rights advocates.”
Brosas made the remarks after Legarda disputed the proposal of Sen. Francis Tolentino to require public officials to disclose association with those deemed to be terrorist-tagged groups although the Court of Appeals has not proscribed any organization in accordance with law.
Legarda vowed to push for a review of Republic Act No. 11479, or the 2020 Anti-Terrorism Act, and urged the government to revive the peace talks with the communist rebels.
Newbie lawmaker Kabataan Rep. Raoul Daniel Manuel, also of the Makabayan bloc, said Legarda’s remarks was a “breath of fresh air.”
“It is about time that democratic space in Congress be exercised for rational discourse and not just to illogically parrot state propaganda on the country’s insurgency,” he said.
Manuel added: “Notwithstanding differences in stances on other relevant people’s issues, her current stand for peace based on social justice, not on state terror, is what we need.”
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