THERE were news articles that mentioned the peace process in the country. In one of them, it was reported that Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. announced that the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will revive peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines/ New People’s Army/ National Democratic Front of the Philippines of the Philippines (CPP/NPA/NDFP) and that a Presidential Proclamation related to the “political settlement” will be issued. In another, the proclamation is said to be about “granting amnesty to rebel fighters.”
Whatever the real score is, we hope that the government will rethink its bloody all-out war strategy against the CPP/NPA/NDFP that was resumed when former President Rodrigo Duterte terminated the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in November 2017.
Pres. Marcos Jr. recently unveiled his administration’s 2023 – 2028 National Security Policy (NSP) which is essentially a reiteration of the “whole-of-nation” approach. The government of Pres. Marcos Jr. appears confident that the death of NDFP Chief Political Consultant Prof. Jose Ma. Sison from natural causes and the killings and arrests of several top leaders of the CPP/NPA/NDFP have greatly weakened it.
Pres. Marcos Jr. is the only post-EDSA president who did not engage in peace negotiations with the NDFP at the start of his presidential term. He continued his predecessor’s “whole-of-nation approach” and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). The NTF-ELCAC is notorious for its wanton red tagging of government critics, social activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) and the human rights violations that come with it. Under his administration, the use of such laws as the Anti-terrorism Act (ATA) and the Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (ATFA) against aforesaid persons and groups have intensified.
Unfortunately, this “whole-of-nation approach” and the NTF-ELCAC have greatly contributed to the shrinking of civic space in the country. The recent case of environmental activists, Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, starkly illustrates how those opposing government projects, like the reclamation of Manila Bay, are illegally and forcibly taken by state security forces and later presented as NPA “surrenderees”. Jhed and Jonila should be commended for their bravery in speaking the truth about their abduction during the press conference organized by the NTF-ELCAC itself.
As peace advocates, we continue to hope and work for the resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations that will truly address the underlying causes of armed conflict in the country, which include endemic poverty, historical landlessness, and inequitable distribution of resources.
As the biggest and broadest network of peace advocates in the country, the Citizens’ Alliance for Just Peace (CAJP) strongly believes that resuming the formal GRP-NDFP peace negotiations will be a productive engagement. Let us support and promote a culture of peace-building that upholds human rights and respects the desires of the poor for social justice and people-centered development. — CITIZENS’ ALLIANCE FOR JUST PEACE
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The Citizen’ Alliance for Just Peace (CAJP) is an alliance of four major peace networks – Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP), Pilgrims for Peace, Sulong Peace and Waging Peace Philippines. It is the biggest network of peace groups in the country from different political backgrounds. The CAJP has united under one goal – to work for a just, equitable and enduring peace in the Philippines by engaging the peace processes including through principled peace negotiations.
