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Wednesday, March 15, 2017
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BACOLOD City – A Philippine Army official is optimistic about the peace negotiation between the government and the rebels.
“Only fools or [those] not in their right senses will reject the peace process,” said Major General Jon Aying, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. “Social issues and economic problems can be resolved only through peaceful talks.”
Army offensives against the New People’s Army (NPA), however, will continue.
No ceasefire has been declared yet even with the announcement of the resumption of the peace talks, Aying said.
But soldiers have not monitored any atrocity staged by rebels in Negros Island Region recently, unlike in Mindanao and Southern Luzon, he said.
Aying also noted that security in the island region “improved” after Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental were declared “peaceful and ready for development.”
In February, Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. of Negros Occidental expressed support to President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to terminate the peace talks.
The NPA violated the ceasefire. Now it is up to the President if he will still give peace talks a chance, Marañon then said.
Marañon is urging rebels to surrender and offering them up to P100,000 in financial assistance — as much as P300,000 if they turn over high-powered firearms.
His offer stands for rebel returnees in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, said Lieutenant Colonel Roderick Garcia, commander of the 79th “Masaligan” Infantry Battalion based in Tanjay City.
Gov. Roel Degamo of Negros Oriental, meanwhile, proposed a local version of the peace process. He stressed that he wants to sustain the gains of the local campaign against insurgency.
“We can’t win this war and armed struggle with bullets,” Degamo said. “We only need to talk and present programs that will uplift the quality of lives of our people.”/PN
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