4 presidential bets say ‘Yes’ to extending CPP terrorism, violence

FILIPINOS should not expect to see an end to the already 54 years of terrorism, violence and deception being inflicted on the country by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), after 4 out of the 10 official candidates for the presidency said they would revive the peace talk with the communist terrorist movement should any one of them gets elected as president.

During the program, ‘2022 Presidential Candidates Edition,’ a special news program of GMA-7 hosted by broadcast journalist, Jessica Soho that aired on Saturday, January 22, 2022, presidential aspirants, Vice President Leni Robredo, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Sen. Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Pacquiao and Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso, responded ‘YES’ to the question, ‘Ipagpapatuloy mo ba ang peace talks sa mga CPP-NPA-NDF?’

An exercise in futility

Historically, talking peace with the CPP, thru its own creation, the National Democratic Front (NDF), has proved to be an exercise in futility for the government.

From the time of Pres. Corazon Aquino and up to the first year of Pres. Duterte’s administration, the government has tried to strike a bargain with the CPP, even allowing known CPP cadres to enter government while those in prison after their capture were released.

All ‘goodwill’ and ‘confidence-building’ measures initiated by the government proved insufficient insofar as the CPP is concerned.

On November 23, 2017, Pres. Duterte finally issued Proclamation 360, formally ending the peace talk with the CPP, after also arriving at the inevitable conclusion, like his predecessors, that any peace talk with the CPP is both fruitless and useless.

Proclamation 360 noted that, “This Administration agreed to resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF)- Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)- the New People’s Army (NPA) and to accelerate the signing and implementation of the final peace agreement.”

“In spite of the best efforts exerted by this Administration, the NDF-CPP-NPA failed to show its sincerity and commitment in pursuing genuine and meaningful peace negotiations as it engaged on acts of violence and hostilities, endangering the lives and properties of innocent people.”

But committed to achieving a secure and progressive nation by attaining just and lasting peace and by ensuring durable security, public order and safety” that was also stated in Proclamation 360, Pres. Duterte the next year, on December 4, 2018, signed Executive Order (EO) 70, creating the ‘National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’ (NTF-ELCAC).

Throwing out the gains, striking deals with with terrorists

The position of Lacson, Moreno, Pacquiao and Robredo of reviving the peace talk with the CPP-NPA-NDF should anyone of them gets elected as president, would clearly throw out all the gains the government, thru the NTF-ELCAC, achieved in the fight against CPP violence, terrorism and deception.

According to the task force’s report in November 2021, more than 20,000 active members, leading cadres and supporters of the terrorist movement have surrendered at the start of the Duterte administration; while the surrenders were just a trickle before the NTF-ELCAC was formed, this turned into a flood since then, raising optimism that the threat to national security of the CPP would be effectively addressed by the government by the time Pres. Duterte steps down from office on June 30 this year.

In proposing to again consort with the CPP, any of the four are actually saying that the CPP’s life and operations would continue for the duration of their 6-year term as president.

The position of the four presidential wannabes also clashes with the official government position of not making any deal with known terrorist groups and individuals.

The CPP-NPA, including Sison, has been on the terrorist list of the United States since 2002, in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack in the US mainland a year before.

Again, the CPP-NPA is also declared as terrorist organizations by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

With the Supreme Court declaring most of the provisions of RA 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020,’ including its provision on the designation of groups and individuals as ‘terrorists,’ the designation of the CP-NPA-NDF, including Sison and their other top leaders, is now classified as legal, constitutional and binding to all, especially, Philippine public officials.