THE National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) yesterday said Vice President Sara Duterte remains its ally despite differences on how to end the insurgency problem.
NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres said government leaders may differ in their views on amnesty for insurgents and peace negotiations but “we only have one goal, which is to finally end the local communist armed conflict in our country.”
“VP Sara is not only an ally of NTF-ELCAC, she is the vice chairperson of the NTF-ELCAC and the second highest official of our land,” he said in an online press briefing.
Duterte on Monday asked President Marcos Jr to reconsider his proclamations granting amnesty to communist and other insurgents. She also called “an agreement with the devil” a joint statement signed recently by government officials and leaders of the communist National Democratic Front of the Philippines, on holding peace negotiations. She noted past negotiations have proven the insincerity of the communists in talking peace.
On Tuesday, the House committees on justice and on national defense adopted resolutions concurring with the President’s amnesty proclamations. On the same day, leaders of political parties of the House of Representatives issued a joint statement supporting the amnesty grant.
Torres, a retired Army general, said the “effect” of Duterte’s pronouncements “is on the crafting of the IRR (implementing rules and regulation) for the amnesty and how to move forward our peace efforts as a result of the joint Oslo communiqué,” he said.
“We expect that the opinion of our Vice President, the co-vice chair of NTF-ELCAC, would be seriously considered in the discussions, in crafting the IRR and in the discussions also in our peace efforts as we move forward and find ways to finally end armed conflict in our country,” said Torres.
He assured the public that the NTF-ELCAC’s efforts to end the decades-old insurgency remain will continue.
Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general of the National Security Council and head of the NTF-ELCAC Strategic Communications Cluster, said, “Definitely Vice President Sara is an ally. There are just differences in opinion.”
Malaya said the main purpose of NTF-ELCAC, which is chaired by President Marcos Jr, is to end the communist armed conflict.
“The objective of the Vice President has always been the same, the same with the President. (The President), the Vice President, both of them want to end the local communist armed conflict,” he said.
“So insofar as that objective is concerned, yes, the Vice President is an ally, and will continue to do so,” said Malaya.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) asked the Filipino faithful to express support for the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the communist group.
The PEPP is composed of five church groups — Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC), and Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum (EBF).
The group’s aim is to promote the peace agenda.
“We call on all people of goodwill to continue working and praying for peace. Let us support this effort by the two parties and the third-party facilitator, the Royal Norwegian government,” the group said in a statement.
“We reiterate our call for the two parties to resume the formal peace talks earnestly to address the roots of the armed conflict so that a final peace agreement may come to pass,” it said. — With Gerard Naval
