(Eagle News)–Localized peace talks have been rejected by local revolutionary groups, the Communist Party of the Philippines said on Wednesday, July 18.
In a statement, the CPP noted what it said was the statement of the NPA-Venerando Villacillo Command in Northern Luzon that said that “only the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, armed state forces, intelligence units, local elite and foreign imperialist capitalists would benefit from localized peace talks.”
It said the NPA-Celso Minguez Command (NPA-CMC) in Sorsogon, Bicol also called the proposal a “deceptive offer,” while the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF) said rejected it outright.
Frank Fernandez, NDFP-Negros Island spokesman, said the localized peace talks served to “smokescreen the brutal and ruthless all-out war that has beset the country and divert attention from Duterte’s unwillingness to pursue agrarian reform, national industrialization and national sovereignty,” while in southern Mindanao, Rubi del Mundo, spokesperson, said the plan was an attempt to “draw a veil over the ravages of martial law in Mindanao and the escalating bloodbath of Oplan Kapayapaan affecting millions of civilians in the country,” the CPP said.
“NDF-Panay and all revolutionary forces in the region totally reject any call for local peace talks with the local bureaucracy or any other entity blessed by the anti-peace liar and chief fascist representative of the ruling class in the country,” NDFP-Panay spokesperson Concha Araneta said, according to the CPP.
According to the group, the separate statements of rejection were “virtual slaps on the face of Duterte and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana” as they “echo the earlier statement issued by the (CPP) that Duterte’s local peace talks which smokescreen its total war against the people and widespread military abuses under Mindanao martial law and Oplan Kapayapaan.”
“They also point out how such pretend talks will fail in their respective areas,” the CPP added.
Peace talks with the rebels were supposed to resume in June but the government suspended them, citing the need for a public consultation beforehand.
Duterte later said he preferred the conduct of localized peace talks.
