Lorenzana says peace with Reds will have a chance once Sison is out of picture
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said true peace will have a chance once Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison is out of the picture.
“Mr. Sison, in response to your childish tantrums we will vigorously pursue the ongoing localized peace talks. I am sure that once you are out of the picture, true peace will have a chance to become a reality and you will be consigned to the dustbin of history,” he said in a statement Friday.
“Mr. Sison, you know that the peace talks is the only thing that is keeping you in the limelight. Without it you are irrelevant. You also know that the president can terminate the talks, and this is why you are desperately using reverse psychology and intimidation to save it,” he added.
Lorenzana issued his statement after Sison said that the National Democratic Front (NDF) will no longer negotiate with the government headed by the current administration and threatens to join a movement to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Based on the implications drawn from the current impasse, the NDFP can no longer negotiate with a GRP that is headed by Duterte. So long as he heads the GRP, the Filipino people, especially the oppressed and exploited, cannot expect any benefit from negotiating with the Duterte regime,” Sison said on Thursday.
“It is relatively easier and more productive for the NDFP to participate in the Oust-Duterte movement and to prepare for peace negotiations with the prospective administration that replaces the Duterte regime,” he stated.
“The broad united front of patriotic and democratic forces has become strong enough to call for and cause the ouster of Duterte. While the urban-based Oust Duterte movement is growing, the CPP, NPA and the people have to fight and defeat the offensives of the AFP and PNP being unleashed by the Duterte regime,” he added.
Lorenzana said the communist group is using the peace negotiation to regain their lost ground.
“Sison never ceases to amaze me. He begs for peace talks and a ceasefire, and now he turns around to say that they will no longer negotiate with this government and threatens to destabilize the administration. What are they are doing in the past 49 years? Since 1968 they continue destabilization to weaken the government so that their armed struggle will succeed and they could take over the government?,” he said.
“Now their strategy is obvious: talk peace and then press for a ceasefire so that they can regain lost grounds. That is there ultimate objective on the peace talks,” he noted.
“During peace talks, peace is the furthest thing from their minds. They have already admitted that the peace talks is basically in support of their armed struggle. It was never their principal objective. Their term "just and lasting peace" is a situation when they have finally succeeded in their armed struggle, definitely not our idea of just and lasting peace,” he added.
Lorenzana also warned that people should “not be lulled or hoodwinked by Sison's glib tongue about reforms.”
“They will institute reforms all right, but along communist lines when they have finally won. In fact, they don't even have to win because their socialistic CASER (Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms), which they are trying to ram down our throats, will ensure that they will have a foothold in governance,” he said.
“The government, on the other hand, has been instituting reforms in accordance with our laws, our resources and our people’s most pressing needs, such as land reform, job generation projects, infrastructure development, and other poverty alleviation initiatives. But Sison and his ilk do not want these projects to succeed. The anti-poor NPAs have been trying hard to sabotage these pro-people projects by burning equipment and intimidating contractors, which stalls development in the countryside”, he added. Robina Asido/DMS
