The League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) expresses its full support to the resumption of the peace negotiations with all armed groups in the country including the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army/National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
The attainment of peace in the country is one of the priorities of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. In fact, he even stressed this in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) when he said, "All of us want peace, not the peace of the dead but the peace of the living. We express our willingness and readiness to go to the negotiating table, and yet we load our guns, fix our sights, pull the trigger. It is both ironic and tragic–and it is endless. Well, we extol the bravery and heroism of our soldiers. Kayo, the rebels, do the same for the rebels and fighters. What I see instead are the widows and the orphans and I feel their pain and grief. And no amount of cash assistance or the number of medals can compensate the loss of a human life. Sorrow cuts across every stratum of society. It cuts deeply and the pain lasts forever."
The "protracted people's war" being waged for more than 46 years has resulted in the displacement of tens of thousands of rural folks specifically the Indigenous Peoples, fisher-folks, farmers and farm workers, and the rural poor.
President Duterte is determined to end the armed conflict by addressing its root causes of poverty, injustice, lack of opportunity for the poor, and exploitation of the basic sectors perpetuated by the elite/oligarchs.
President Duterte has shown more than enough goodwill by declaring a unilateral ceasefire during his first SONA and supporting the petitions for bail of the detained Consultants of the NDF for them to be able to join the peace talks in Oslo, Norway this August 22 to 27, 2016. For its part, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines has announced that it will be declaring a ceasefire during the Oslo talks.
The peace talks could learn from the positive experiences of other countries specifically in Guatemala and El Salvador which led to the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords on January 16, 1992 in Mexico City and the Guatemelan Peace Agreement on December 29, 1996 in Guatemala City.
The LCP likewise expresses its full support to League President and Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Dizon Pamintuan, who will be joining the Philippine Peace Panel as Adviser representing the Local Government Units of the country, and former LCP President and Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista.
Mayor Edgardo D. Pamintuan Angeles City LCP National President |
Mayor Ma. Laarni L. Cayetano City of Taguig LCP Chairperson |
Mayor Francis Anthony S. Garcia Balanga City LCP Secretary General |