EDITORIAL - A reasonable call

That was a reasonable demand from President Duterte to communist rebels last Friday. Stop extortion activities and stay away from power facilities, he urged the rebels, because it is the public that suffers when power plants and towers are damaged.

If the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing the New People’s Army can heed this call, the President’s peace initiative can claim a major achievement. The CPP-NPA has scared away investors, destroyed livelihood and job opportunities and derailed poverty alleviation and development efforts by bombing power and telecommunications towers, staging armed raids on private business compounds, and torching vehicles and heavy equipment of those who refuse to yield to the rebels’ extortion in the guise of raising “revolutionary taxes.”

The unreliability of power supply is one of the major disincentives to job-generating investments particularly in the countryside where these are most needed. Security threats also dampen tourism, which could be a major revenue earner and generator of employment.

Everyone is affected by these violent attacks. Bombings by the NPA have prevented telecommunications companies from installing more towers nationwide to boost capacity. This problem, combined with right-of-way issues that the government must help resolve, has led to spotty services even in Metro Manila and other urban centers.

President Duterte has given priority to forging peace with rebel groups. In his effort to achieve lasting peace, he is bending over backward to give the communists representation in his government. Skeptics have wondered whether the communist ideal will ever find a place in a democratic republic. But the President wants to give the peace process another chance.

He has done much by way of confidence-building measures in the name of peace. The rebels must show sincerity and return the gesture by heeding the President’s call for an end to bombings and extortion.