Conditions for genuine peace talks

Even now that there is an interim bilateral cessation of military operations, or temporary ceasefire, we still believe that it's not easy to talk about peace with the National Democratic Front and the Communist Party of the Philippines, with their armed forces, the New Peoples' Army. It is not easy to sit down at a bargaining table with Fidel Agcaoili, Luis Jalandoni, and Joma Sison, while their armed partisans are staging ambushes against our outlying police forces, and holding hostage many of our soldiers and public officials. It is not a walk in the park to discuss serious social, economic, and political issues that confront the nation, while the NPA is collecting revolutionary taxes and terrorizing corporate agri farms that employ thousands of peace-loving citizens. Indeed, it is very difficult to talk of peace in a foreign country while foreign tourists are being kidnapped for ransom here in our country.

That is why the president was perfectly on the right track when he put conditions for the continuation of the peace talks between the government peace panel and the NDF/CPP/NPA. First, the NPA should stop collecting revolutionary taxes. Do you think the communists will accept that condition? I don't think so. How would the NDF fund their operations in both the countryside front and in the urban areas? Of course, they have foreign funding. That is why Joma and Jalandoni have lived in the Netherlands for more than forty years. They are the conduit of funds from Europe and elsewhere used to finance the protracted warfare against the government. But they need accessible sources of funding for their propaganda and recruitment activities. So the first condition will most likely be rejected. Or they would pretend to be open to it just to exact more concessions from the government.

The president also demanded that they release all their prisoners and hostages. It is useless to talk peace when the other side is not acting in good faith. The government has already released many top communist stalwarts. Foremost of them are Benito and Wilma Tiamzon who were even allowed to travel to Oslo, Norway to attend the peace talks, under the guarantee of the Philippine government. How many lives were lost at the hands of their armed partisans? All those notwithstanding, the government released their leaders and put their nominees in the highest echelons. That includes DSWD's Judy Taguiwalo, DAR's Rafael Mariano, and even DepEd's Leonor Magtolis-Briones. There are many others. Thus, it is only fair that the NDF/CPP/NPA reciprocate by releasing our police and armed forces elements who are under their custody.

The other condition is for the NPA to stop claiming that they own and control certain territories and to stop demanding that our AFP and police forces should withdraw from such enclaves. Duterte is a president who knows how to negotiate. While we really need to forge a long and lasting peace, we should negotiate from a position of strength. Even the latest exchange of prisoners, while we were at a disadvantage (with less than five government partisans to be released in exchange of more than twenty political detainees), it is still a step in the right direction. We should support the president in such kind of posture. The sovereignty of the state is non-negotiable. The NDF is not a belligerent state. We have to play our cards so well and not give too much for too little. Peace is a goal worth pursuing, but not at the expense of our national dignity. And what matters most is the integrity of the state and the sovereignty of our nation. This is not negotiable.