Manila: National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Oban on Tuesday threw his support behind Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.'s rejection of any peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). "Secretary Teodoro is correct in saying that to resume a national-level peace negotiations with a clearly spent, isolated, and criminal armed group would not advance the Filipino's interest in security, peace, and development. It would only give their crumbling insurgency a veneer of credibility it no longer possesses on the ground," said Oban, who is also National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) vice chair.
According to Philippines News Agency, Oban and Teodoro's reaction stemmed from the call of former peace negotiators batting for a resumption of peace talks in the wake of the April 19 encounter between the military and insurgents in Toboso, Negros Occidental that left 19 people dead. "Since the formal talks at the time of President Corazon Aquino, the CPP-NPA-NDF has repeatedly exploited ceasefires and negotiations to regroup, rebuild networks, regain influence in communities, and project political relevance while its armed units continued to commit atrocities, extortion, recruitment, and violence against the Filipino people," Oban said.
He emphasized that peace talks should not become a "lifeline for a dying insurgency... [that has] lost any semblance of integrity and belligerency." Oban warned that reopening negotiations at this time would overturn hard-won victories that Filipino communities have achieved through years of courage, sacrifice, and peacebuilding. He noted that across the archipelago, towns and barangays that were once trapped in fear and coercion have rejected the NPA.
Oban further stated that any proposal to talk with the CPP-NPA-NDF today is tone-deaf to the realities on the ground. "The Filipino people are not asking for the return of peace negotiations that the CPP-NPA-NDF has historically abused. Our communities are asking for roads, schools, livelihoods, justice, local security, reintegration, healing, and protection from recruitment and intimidation," he said.
He also highlighted that peace must be built in barangays, families, schools, farms, indigenous communities, and former conflict-affected areas, where forms of conflict were actually suffered. "Filipino communities are already empowered to pursue localized peace engagements that directly address the roots of conflict," he said.
Oban concluded by stating that the door remains open for individuals who sincerely renounce armed struggle and return to the fold of the law. "We reaffirm the State's policy that those who wish to abandon armed violence are afforded lawful and dignified pathways through localized peace engagements, reintegration, transformation programs, and amnesty processes," he said.
