• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Joint Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict for Western Visayas expressed its support to what it calls the landmark proclamations of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in granting amnesty to members of various groups engaged in armed conflict against the state.
By winning the peace, it ends the local communist armed conflict, the JRTF – ELCAC Western Visayas, said in a press statement.
The Apolinario Gatmaitan Command of the New People’s Army, in a statement, however, dismissed the amnesty program as “bogus and obtuse,” similar to the local peace efforts bragged about by the AFP Visayas Command.
AGC-NPA spokesperson Ka Maoche Legislador pointed out that the government is contradicting itself by issuing Proclamation 404 which stated that amnesty granted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA) “shall not cover terrorism” among others, while the CPP-NPA has been wrongly tagged by the Anti-Terror Council as “terrorists.”
“That logic alone proves how insincere the Marcos Jr. regime is in addressing the roots of the armed conflict,” Legislador added.
Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, JRTF6-ELCAC spokesperson said, “we believe that violence will not be the solution to the problems of the Filipino nation.”
On the other hand, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said the amnesty is a significant step towards the full transformation into productive and peace-loving citizens of both active and former members of the New People’s Army (NPA), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB).
“The amnesty program will allow them to transition into peaceful and productive civilian life through the restoration of their social and political rights, which will provide them greater participation and engagement with the broader community,” Galvez said.
Legislador also dismissed the statement of AFP Visayas Command that local peace efforts ‘delivered irreversible losses to the CPP-NPA.’
The Communist Party of the Philippines will mark its 55th founding anniversary on Dec. 26.*
