Bum step

Deceit led to the failure of earnest peace efforts as the communists merely exploited the democratic space to strengthen their efforts to bring down the government.

The government is playing with fire with the ill-advised offer to negotiate peace with the treacherous Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front, or CPP-NPA-NDF.

The triumvirate involves the ideological overlord of the CPP, its armed component, NPA, and the legal front that includes so-called rights groups and certain members of Congress.

Negotiating with the communist rebels who have the ultimate goal of toppling the government and replacing it with a totalitarian one is equivalent to the Israelis giving due course to talks with the murderer group Hamas, which has in its “covenant” the extermination of Jews and the eradication of Israel from the world map.

The Anti-Terrorism Council has designated the CPP-NPA-NDF as terror groups, and the tag has been retained despite the courts denying a government petition to declare the rebels as terrorists.

A court order was necessary for a proscription to apply the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Since ATC recognizes the communist movement as a terrorist, the law remains applicable to members of the three organizations.

Then senator Ping Lacson, author of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, said the proposed negotiations will violate the state policy of not negotiating with terrorists.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte terminated the government’s peace talks with communist rebels in 2017 through Proclamation 360.

Duterte lambasted the communist rebels for taking advantage of the peace negotiations to recruit members and consolidate their forces, showing their insincerity in working for lasting peace.

The left-wing extremists are again displaying such duplicity.

The negotiating arm of the NDF issued preconditions for reactivating the negotiations.

NDF gave Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Carlito Galvez the terms that should be met before the communist rebels sit at the negotiating table.

High on the CPP-NPA-NDF agenda is for ATC to “delist” the three organizations from the terror lineup.

Another is for a free pass for National Democratic Front of the Philippines negotiator Luis Jalandoni, who has long been hunted for anti-government acts.

The clincher is its demand that “detained NDFP peace negotiators and consultants” all be released.

In previous talks with the government, the NDF exercised authority to name its so-called “negotiators and consultants,” resulting in the release of nearly all detained communists.

The military then expressed dismay that years of their work to capture the rebels, many of whom had killed soldiers, were wasted on the whim of the communist leaders on the pretext of a peace process.

The devious rebels then posed the question: “Doesn’t it smack of bad faith that (Galvez) will negotiate with Ka Luis (Jalandoni) across the table while calling him a terrorist?” as a rationale for its demand.

In the previous dispensation, the communist movement was given wide latitude to make the peace program work, to the extent that some of its nominees were given seats in the Cabinet.

Deceit led to the failure of earnest peace efforts as the communists merely exploited the democratic space to strengthen their efforts to bring down the government.

A comprehensive peace deal is not even needed since localized peace engagements have successfully diminished the ranks of the rebellion.

Also, the communist movement wanted to delineate that the peace talks would not seek the rebels’ surrender, saying that raising the white flag was the agenda of the military and the United States.

The ridiculous demands of the communists could only mean that they are again looking at the resumption of negotiations as another chance to crank up their propaganda machinery and lure more members in the process.

Talks with the cunning communists will be futile since they are like foxes who will use all means to raid the livestock.

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