‘Non-stop,’ ‘all-out’ war grinds on vs CPP-NPA

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AT GROUND LEVEL - Satur C.

Ocampo (The Philippine Star) - September 14, 2019 -
12:00am
Once again, President Duterte on Tuesday ordered the
AFP and the PNP to pursue an “all-out war” against the
CPP-NPA. This time, he told reporters in Malacanang,
there would be “no stopping” in the fighting and that he
would not accept any surrender.
Answering a reporter’s query on the difference between
this new order and the current one he had earlier
ordered – and all those ordered and carried out by
previous administrations – Duterte explained in his
quaint Filipino style:
“Walang hintuan. Walang hintuan. Magpalit-palit yang
isang batalyon diyan na walang gamit na wala
masyadong kalaban… Pagka bone-weary na ang mga
sundalo, palit na naman. Tuluy-tuloy. At kung maaari,
lumaban sila nang husto kasi hindi ako magtanggap ng
surrender.”
“Gusto ko, kung maaari lang, tapusin ko sa panahon
ko,” Duterte added, apparently unsure his wish could
be fulfilled during his term of office ending in June
2022.
And for good measure, the President reiterated his vow
– as regards his controversial “war on drugs” and the
enhanced counterinsurgency campaign – to assume
full responsibility for how the police and the military
conduct the all-out war. Reassuring the policemen and
soldiers, he said:
“You just do your duty in accordance with law. Ako ang
mag-amin sa lahat. I take full responsibility. Ako ang
magpapreso. Ako ang magharap ng ICC. Wala silang
problema – sine-safety ko na sila kaagad.”
(By saying that he would face up to the ICC, Duterte
showed he remained conscious of the probability that
the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague,
would eventually look into the complaints/information
submitted to the office of its chief prosecutor in 2017.
The complaints pertain to the thousands of killings
related to his war on drugs and to mounting cases of
extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations in
counterinsurgency campaigns. Fatou Bensouda, the
ICC chief prosecutor, has announced her determination
to conduct a preliminary examination of the
complaints/information. However, the Duterte
government has repeatedly said it would not allow her
entry into the country.)
Here’s how the PNP chief and the spokesman of an
AFP regional command have responded to Duterte’s
latest order:
• PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde declared:
“Police operations against the armed components of
the communist terrorist movement will be swift and
relentless, just as it will be lawful and judicious.” [Note:
A Department of Justice petition to declare the CPP-
NPA as a terrorist organization is still pending hearing
before a Manila Regional Trial Court, as required by the
anti-terrorism law or the Human Security Act of 2007].
“The final push to end local communist armed conflict
will be firm and decisive under the guidance and
direction of the national leadership,” Albayalde added,
referring to the National Task Force to End the Local
Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), headed by
President Duterte himself. Duterte created the NTF by
issuing Executive Order 70 on Dec. 4, 2018.
• The AFP would not hesitate to use all its “might” to
carry out the order, said the AFP Southern Luzon
Command spokesman, Lt. Col. Dennis Cuna. However,
he clarified:
“Our primary weapon in this all-out war really is the
cooperation with all concerned government agencies,
LGUs (local government units) and NGO
(nongovernment organization) and the synergy that
created harmonious efforts which address the issues
and concerns of our people, especially at areas where
interventions are badly needed.” He mentioned building
infrastructure, providing economic assistance, and
“other services.”
Does his Tuesday order related to what Duterte warned
on Aug. 27: that in the coming months there will be a
“very, very radical change in the behavior of the
government” and “it will be not really bloody but there
will be, at least, a little trouble for our country”?
Without any prodding by a reporter, Duterte recalled
how he had gone “out of my way” to open up with the
Left revolutionary forces whom he now wants to be
smashed.
“I appointed communists – hard-core communist
members – in my Cabinet,” he said. (The CPP
leadership at the time made it clear no CPP active
member could join the Duterte government. It was the
NDFP peace negotiating panel that recommended well-
known personalities in the progressive mass movement
for appointment to positions in the Duterte government.
Ultimately they were all squeezed out and forced to
resign.)
“Then I initiated [peace] talks,” he went on. “Dito sila sa
Palace, the Tiamzons even. Pumunta sa Davao, nag-
dinner kami. Kaibigan, no personal hatred. Pero hindi
kami nagkaintindihan.” He cited the issue of a “coalition
government” as a source of disagreement. Since mid-
2017, when he suspended the talks for three months,
he had made it clear that he could not agree to a
coalition government. He continued:
“Sabi mo hindi coalition government. Pero yung mga
JASIG, yung agreement na previous [Comprehensive
Agreement on Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law or CAHRIHL?], pag ipasok mo yan
sa fabric ng national laws natin, pati Constitution,
parang ang labas coalition talaga.”
Apparently Duterte misinterpreted, or over-read, the
term “joint and separate responsibilities” of the two
parties in the implementation of agreements signed in
the course of the GRP-NDFP peace talks as connoting
a coalition government. Fact: The negotiating panels
had clearly agreed on the principle that, as partners in
the peace negotiations, both sides assume joint
responsibilities in ensuring the full implementation of
every agreement; at the same time, each side assumes
separate responsibilities on fulfilling specific aspects of
the accord.
This principle of “joint and separate responsibilities”is
quite known and acceptable to the peace advocacy
groups that have supported the GRP-NDFP peace
negotiations and have been pushing for their
resumption since Duterte “terminated” the talks in
November 2017. They urge the implementation of the
CAHRIHL, so that violations of human rights and
international humanitarian law, committed by either
party in the course of the armed conflict and mostly
affecting civilians, can be appropriately addressed by
meting out sanctions on the erring party and
recompensing the victims.
They gathered last Thursday at a Sto. Domingo church
meeting hall, led by Archbishop Antonio Ledesma and
other Catholic and Protestant bishops, and reviewed
the history of the peace talks. They spurned “all-out
war” for historically having inflicted death, destruction
and misery among the people without resolving the
armed conflict. Ringing small bells, they chanted in
unison: “No to all-out war! Yes to peace talks!”

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/09/14/1951617/non-stop-all-out-

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