President Duterte should use President Magsaysay’s 4F

For the nth time, the peace talks between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the National Democratic Front (NDF) and the New People’s Army (NPA) have faltered. CPP Chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison stated that only a miracle could save the peace talks from the hardline stand of the government led by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. C’mon Joma, I will have to agree with you that it would take a miracle to save the peace talks, but it is not due to Pres. Duterte, but rather you and your comrades in the CPP. If peace is really what you want to see happen in this country, then you will fight for peace!

The supposedly “revolutionary” nature of the CPP/NDF/NPA has gone for more than 49 years with no real issues that the revolutionaries ever achieved. They failed miserably in helping the Filipino people rid the country of the Marcos dictatorship… which was why we supported Mrs. Corazon Aquino, the widow of the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

Yet Joma Sison was a huge beneficiary of the Aquino emergence into political power because he was released from jail despite the criminal cases filed against him. Yet because the CPP/NDF/NPA never changed their stand or at least gave the Philippine government a chance for peace, nothing has happened except that the communists held on to more power.

Then came Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Honestly, it took me some time to shift my political alliances to DU-30 simply because he was too close to the CPP/NDF/NPA and I was afraid that he would use his unholy alliance with them so that Joma and his friends could gain a foothold to political power. When Pres. Duterte won the presidency, he installed many pro-communist friends of Joma in his Cabinet. But I said to myself, if all this leads to a genuine peace with the communists, I was willing to make certain sacrifices. Peace after all was very important to the economic development of this country.

In the first peace talks with the communists and the government, Pres. Duterte released many communist political prisoners. Even those communist officials recently captured by the police were released so they could participate in the peace talks. Presidential adviser on the peace process Jess Dureza is a Facebook friend of mine and he always gives me reports about the talks with the communists.

But this recent setback to peace has apparently caused those who wish that we should be talking to the communists to lose hope. My take on this latest debacle is for the Duterte administration to work harder to bring the communists to justice that we Filipinos have long deserved. My final say on this came from the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay who said, “Find them, Fool them, Fight them, and Finish them, then offer them the hand of peace.” I dare Pres. Duterte to follow what Pres. Magsaysay taught.

*      *      *

The unexpected killing of SPO1 Adonis Dumpit whom many friends of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña recognized as his personal bodyguard has caused a puzzlement especially with the Cebu media simply because in all the years that Dumpit was the bodyguard of Mayor Osmeña, he has made several friends even with the media antagonistic to Mayor Osmeña. Most of our media friends apparently do not buy the story of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Tagbilaran City and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). They would rather see a thorough investigation of Dumpit’s death.

It was quite surprising to hear in the TV reports that Adonis was killed by police officers together with agents of the NBI at the Cabawan District of Tagbilaran City, allegedly for his illegal drug activities. As what police reports revealed, Dumpit just left his house with some paraphernalia when the police team approached him… and he supposedly fired at the police who fired back and killed him. Sounds unbelievable.

Just for your information, I have come to personally know that Adonis Dumpit was a sharpshooter and this included many of our media friends. During my days as Traffic or CITOM chief in Cebu City, we would go firing our firearms together. This is why I know that Dumpit was a sharpshooter. So in my book, it’s quite surprising for me that it was Dumpit that got hit and apparently we have not heard of any report that they would come up with a thorough investigation of this incident.

According to reports from the NBI, Dumpit was a high-level drug pusher and protector. We will consider this case vs. Dumpit a mystery until the PNP or NBI comes up with clear evidence that Dumpit was really a new player in the illegal drugs business.

*      *      *

Email: v[email protected]