Youth groups assail intensified militarization, pushes for GPH-NDFP peace talks

August 12, 2011 – 9:15 am

In time for the Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) meeting in Mt. Diwalwal, Compostela Valley Province, progressive youth groups led by Anakbayan held a picket protest to assail the intensifying militarization in the area, which recently displaced around 50 families.

“This recent assault and violation of human rights perpetrated by state forces clearly shows the government’s insincerity in upholding peace in our country. They are creating the conditions for the people to take up arms,” said Anakbayan-SMR regional spokesperson Cherry Orendain.

Anakbayan cited reports from the United People of Mt. Diwata (UPMD) which listed abuses including the violation of the civilians’ right to privacy, and red tagging. The 25th IB of the Philippine Army first conducted a series of malicious census, took pictures of the civilians without prior consent, forcefully gathered personal information including basic information and finally listed the people in their logbooks as New People’s Army (NPA) supporters. State forces further accused the UPMD, which is a legitimate people’s organization, as an NPA front.

Orendain said, “(S)uch accusations have put the civilians’ lives in jeopardy as it made them targets of military operations.”

“Thus there is an objective and material basis for the people to push for the resumption of the peace talks between Government of the Philippines (GPH) and National democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). One of the agendum in the talks is the socio-economic reforms, which should serve the interest of the Filipino people,” stated Orendain.

“The government must address the root cause of social unrest in the country. The armed conflict is not the reason for the absence of peace. Rather, hunger, poverty—the highest forms of violence–and exploitation, should be addressed in order to attain a just and lasting peace. It is high time for the GPH and NDFP panels to resume peace talks and agree on the country’s socio-economic reforms,” she added.

“For the peace talks to resume, it is imperative that the GPH immediately release the NDFP negotiators and consultants whom they have imprisoned based on trumped up, common criminal charges. This act should not be treated as a favor from the GPH as it is stated in the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) that the negotiators and consultants must not be arrested,” she added.

“We are alarmed by the way our own government treats previous agreements. The burgeoning number of political prisoners clearly indicates the GPH’s lack of respect for signed agreements such as JASIG and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). This clearly shows insincerity in the peace talks,” said Orendain.

“We are also alarmed at the recently frequent and provocative statements from President Aquino and the AFP. These are obvious projections from the government on the collapse of the peace talks. We remember that this was the same pattern employed by previous administrations prior to their declaration that the NDFP was accountable for the said failure. It seems that the government is not sincere in ending the worsening hunger and poverty in the country,” Orendain ended. ###