Group asks Aquino to end all peace negotiations with CPP-NPA-NDF

MANILA, Philippines - The Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) party-list called on President Aquino to end all peace negotiations with the Maoist CPP-NPA-NDF, saying the rebels’ insistence on having a status like a sovereign nation is a clear violation of policies of the peace talks.

ANAD slammed anew the NPA’s statements that the four Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) personnel abducted in Kitao-kitao, Bukidnon last July 21 were “prisoners of war” while Lingig Mayor Henry Dano and his two Philippine Army (PA) security escorts, abducted last Aug. 6, are under investigation and will be tried before the people’s court.

“Seeking peace with a group skilled in using any negotiation, including the peace talks not as a method of settling conflicts but an instrument of warfare is like shooting at the moon and stars with a bow and arrow,” Rey Salas, ANAD national spokesman, told The STAR.

ANAD Rep. Jun Alcover, in the same press statement, said it is grossly unfair for the government to negotiate peace with a group whose obsession and goals are anathema to peace.

“How can they do that when they are not even recognized and extended the status of belligerency by any sovereign state in the world or international organization of nations like the United Nations? They are terrorists and nothing more,” Alcover said.

He said his group condemned the NPA for its blatant and highly outrageous display of disrespect to sacred human rights, which they themselves always parade to uphold and protect.

“With these, they have unmasked their lies and deceptive skill against the Filipino people,” he added.

Alcover said the rights of the captives were never respected and the manner of the NPA’s Medardo Arce Command in Southern Mindanao are opposed to the demands they are asking from the government.

This, while compelling the government to adhere to the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and other international protocol on human rights when their comrades are arrested or captured by government security forces.

“Now they are showing their real character that knows no one but their own party and the only way to get hold of power in government is through the effective and sustained use of violence against humanity,” said Alcover, a former NPA political officer and commander in Eastern and Central Visayas who now leads a strong pro-democracy group strongly opposed to Maoist communist terrorism and tyranny. – With Ben Serrano, Rhodina Villanueva