By Antonio L. Colina IV
Davao City — City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio urged her father President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to reconsider his decision to reopen stalled peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) because “there are no indications at all that they are willing to negotiate for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio pose for a photo while they are surrounded by supporters during the President’s meeting with the Filipino community at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong on April 12, 2018. (SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement issued on Friday, Carpio said the insurgency problem in the country will end only if the Communists and their armed wing, New People’s Army (NPA), show that they will be sincere, honest, and committed to reciprocate the gesture of peace and reconciliation offered by the government.
“Just like a battered lover, there is a time to finally say no to pain and suffering. No to peace talks,” she said.
Carpio maintained that the government should “be tough, strong, (and with) high intensity” in dealing with the Communists, while gathering all sectors to completely crush the insurgents’ influence in communities where they are present.
Carpio added that the Communist movement could not be trusted “as they have consistently shown us their deep-seated proclivity to sow hate, violence and extremism, destruction, and senseless killings, (while being) motivated by the desire to rule the nation by overthrowing the government.”
The presidential daughter, who was elected mayor for the second time in 2016 after serving as the city’s local chief executive from 2010 until 2013 and vice mayor from 2007 to 2010, cited the recent atrocities committed by the NPA in the city and surrounding province.
She blamed the Communist guerrillas for the death of Larry Buenafe, a fish vendor who died due to the landmine plated and set off by NPA members when they burned the Lorenzo-owned box plant in Mandug on April 29, 2017.
“Let us not forget Larry’s two very young children now growing without a father — and the many other orphaned children of other hapless, mostly poor civilians. Let us not forget the orphaned children of our brave soldiers and police officers killed by the NPAs in the name of a rusty ideology and deranged revolution,” she said.
Carpio also cited infant Walysha Manchorao, who died in an NPA ambush on a police patrol car in Bukidnon in November 2017. Her death prompted the President to cancel the fifth round of talks on November 25 to 27, 2017 with the issuance of Proclamation 360.
The President subsequently issued Proclamation 374 designating the CPP and the NPA as terrorist organizations.