Incoming peace adviser Jesus Dureza open to talks with other armed groups

DAVAO CITY — The peace adviser of the incoming Duterte administration is willing to talk to armed groups like the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Abu Sayyaf if they reject violence and face the consequence of their criminal acts.

Incoming presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza said he would welcome members of armed groups who want to change their ways to live peaceful lives.

“You don’t deal with terrorists of course. They have no grievance. They have no cause, just plain criminality,” Dureza said in a press conference Thursday night.

“But if the head of Abu Sayyaf approaches me and say he will no longer kill people or stage kidnappings, that they will stop because change is happening, who am I to say ‘go ahead, continue killing people?’” he added.

“I don’t know what the (conditions) will be because these will have to be discussed. But anybody who wants to talk peace and stop criminality (is) welcome…BIFF, ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group), whatever.”

No amnesty for law violators

Dureza, however, clarified that the talks would not erase the criminal liability of those who violated the law.
 
“(If) they’re willing already to change their ways and submit themselves to the responsibilities that they have committed criminal acts…If they surrender, for example, because they killed somebody, they will have to be prosecuted,” he said.
 
“I will welcome all of them and say okay, what crime did you commit? You should be subjected to prosecution. If you beheaded someone, we cannot give you amnesty. You have to pay for all the crimes you have committed.”
 
The Abu Sayyaf is a local terrorist group involved in kidnappings and bombings in Mindanao. Last April, the bandits beheaded Canadian hostage John Ridsdel after his family failed to pay the P300 million ransom they had demanded. Ridsdel, his fellow Canadian Robert Hall, Norwegian resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipina Maritess Flor were abducted by about 20 Abu Sayyaf members at the Ocean View Resort in Samal Island off Davao Oriental on Sept. 21, 2015.
 
On Wednesday, the Abu Sayyaf released four Malaysian sailors it kidnapped off Sabah coast last April. The military claims that the presence of security forces had pressured the kidnappers to free their hostages but there are talks that ransom was paid to secure their release.   
 
The BIFF is a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that attacked civilians in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao and Sarangani in 2008 after the Supreme Court halted the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD).
 
The MOA-AD would have formed a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, which would have expanded the scope of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The new entity would have covered areas in Palawan in Luzon, South Cotabato, Zamboanga City, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur.