No holiday truce with NPA — Lorenzana
by Martin SadongdongDefense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has rejected the idea of declaring a ceasefire with the New People’s Army (NPA) in the spirit of the Christmas season.
Lorenzana said that the suspension of military operations tend to work only for the communist group since they use it to recruit fighters while the soldiers are at rest.
“Kapag nag-ceasefire, balik sa barracks ang mga sundalo dahil tigil ang operations. Eh itong NPA, ginagapang ang mga barangay at nagpapalakas ng pwersa (Usually if there’s a ceasefire, the soldiers go back to their barracks because the operations are stopped. But the NPA deceitfully works their way to villages to increase their power),” Lorenzana said.
The Defense Chief said the military is “always at a disadvantage.”
“Tayo lang ang nagsi-ceasefire. Sila patuloy sa kanilang kasamaan (We are the only ones who follow the ceasefire. They continue to do their evil works),” Lorenzana stated.
Lorenzana warned the communist group that there will be no let-up in the conduct of intensified military operations against them to finally end the 50-year-old insurgency problem in the country caused by the NPA.
“‘Wag na lang tayo magceasefire (Let us just not resort to a ceasefire),” he said.
Late last week, President Duterte said he is sending Labor Secretary Bello III to the Netherlands to start the informal talks with Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison and try to revive the peace talks.
Despite not entertaining the idea of a holiday truce with the NPA, Lorenzana said he supports the President in attempting to open the doors for the resumption of the peace negotiations.
“Lahat naman kami, even sa military, suportado si Presidente (All of us, even in the military, support the President),” the top Defense official stressed.
“Kaya lang ang gusto ko lang ipaabot kay Mr. Sison, maging sinsero din siya (But what I want to say to Mr. Sison is that he should also be sincere),” he added.
Duterte officially terminated the peace talks in 2017 after claiming that the NPA continued to launch ambuscades on government troops despite having a temporary truce due to the on-going negotiations.
But Duterte’s latest gesture sparked hope that the negotiations will be revived in an attempt to achieve a just and lasting peace in the country.
“Si Presidente naman laging nagsasabi na may puwang ang peace talks sa kanyang pamumuno (The President has always said that peace talks will always have a place in his governance),” Lorenzana remarked.
Earlier, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it supports President Duterte in trying to resume the peace talks with the communists but said that the military will negotiate only if it would be advantageous to the national government.