Isko Moreno open to resuming peace talks with Reds

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is open to resuming peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines and other armed rebel groups.

In a chance interview in Lucena City, Quezon, Moreno said he is willing to talk to rebel groups while still protecting the government from being overthrown.

“We must seek for it not only with the Communist Party, but also other armed groups,” he said.

Moreno was an observer and consultant in the botched peace talks between government and the communists.

The presidential candidate cited the success of the more independent Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as a result of the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

He emphasized that he would still protect the state from being overthrown by armed rebellion.

“I hope they will meet us halfway… I’ll pursue (peace talks), but not at the expense of our state,” Moreno said.

“It’s hard to find peace. It’s a very expensive word, but we must seek for a long and just peace in our country because every Filipino deserves it,” he added.

Moreno expressed belief that the government is doing its best to address the call of communists for socioeconomic change.

“While we don’t tolerate (bearing arms against the state), we must have an open mind to try to listen to them,” he said.

The mayor also promised to properly implement the law that created the coconut levy trust fund to benefit farmers in Quezon.

Another surge

The Philippines might suffer another COVID-19 surge, similar to what is being experienced by China, Hong Kong and South Korea, vice presidential candidate Dr. Willie Ong warned.

“It is possible that it will reach the Philippines, I don’t know how serious, whether in May or June,” Ong said in Filipino during the “PiliPinas Debates 2022: The Turning Point” organized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) last Sunday.

Moreno’s running mate claimed that the BA.2 or the “stealth Omicron” variant of COVID-19 could be driving the soaring tally of daily infections in those countries.

International news agencies reported that China, Hong Kong and South Korea have been overwhelmed by the new COVID-19 surge, with the latter registering over 400,000 new patients a day last week.

The World Health Organization said it was alarmed by rising COVID-19 cases last week, with the global record of new cases up by eight percent.

Ong reiterated his plan to build the country’s infectious disease hospital that would attend exclusively to patients of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

He said he would also enforce on a national scale the purchase of anti-COVID medicines, like the Manila city government’s procurement of drugs like remdesivir, molnupiravir, baricitinib, tocilizumab and bexovid – the generic counterpart of Pfizer’s anti-COVID pill paxlovid – which Ong said could reduce risk of hospitalization and death by 90 percent.

The vice presidential bet also underscored the importance of providing free COVID-19 testing, giving support to health workers and addressing mental health issues brought about by the pandemic.

“When we accomplish these, we can reopen. But when we just reopen without doing these things, we will endure another lockdown,” he said. – Ghio Ong