Spokesperson: Talks are bound to fail

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The local chapter of the National Democratic Front (NDF), the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), dismissed the proposed local peace talks, saying, they are bound to fail.

In a statement by NDF-Negros spokesperson Ka Frank Fernandez, he called local peace talks a method to “smokescreen the brutal and ruthless all-out war that has beset the country.”

He said the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is only “diverting public attention” from his “unwillingness” to pursue agrarian reform, national industrialization, and national sovereignty.

Fernandez said Duterte’s regime failed to address the root of the ongoing conflict between them and the government and instead chose to carry on with “imperialist puppetry” and “the fascist and bureaucrat capitalist tradition of his predecessors.”

He added, their forces in Negros are united with the nationwide revolutionary movement.

Fernandez also blamed Duterte for the collapse of regular peace talks, claiming, the president was indifferent to the dire conditions of the Filipino people.

Earlier this month, Philippine Army 303rd Infantry Brigade (303IB) commander, Colonel Alberto Desoyo, said they are open to local peace talks with the rebels operating in the province despite pronouncements made by CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison and ending peace negotiations with the government.

Sison canceled the peace talks, saying, his group could “no longer negotiate” with the present administration, adding, it would be “relatively easier and more productive” if Duterte were ousted.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, meanwhile, recommended ending talks after reports surfaced revealing the CPP-NPA had crafted a “three-year plan” to advance their revolutionary movements by removing Duterte from office if he refused to install a coalition government./DGB, WDJ