Palace: Duterte OKs national plan vs communist insurgency
Credit to Author: CATHERINE S. VALENTE, TMT| Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2019 09:43:23 +0000
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte approved a national plan to integrate the government’s efforts to address the armed conflict with local communists, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said the plan was approved by the President during his meeting with the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in Malacañang on Monday night.
“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte today rallied all instrumentalities of government, the private sector, and the entire Filipino nation to actively work together in a Whole-of-Nation Movement to address violent conflicts, as well as build a culture of peace and development throughout the country,” Panelo said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
“At the first meeting of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict held in Malacañang, President Duterte approved a National Plan that would integrate and harmonize the various efforts of the whole of government and of all sectors of society in delivering goods and services, as well as in providing for peace and security, especially in conflict-affected communities,” he said.
Panelo said members of the Cabinet and other heads of agencies who were present at the meeting “agreed that the Whole-of-Nation Movement is not directed primarily at defeating the communist insurgency, but instead to demonstrate genuine good governance for the betterment of the lives of the people.”
“To effectively manage the Whole-of-Nation Movement, the President will assign specific Cabinet members to oversee the peace and development efforts in every region of the country. The designated Cabinet Officer for the Region will be supported by a unified and integrated Regional Development Council and Regional Peace and Order Council,” he said.
The Palace official said the government would also pursue the “fast-tracked” implementation of the National Wifi and 911 projects in all barangay nationwide.
“By effectively managing barriers and challenges to peace and development, the Whole-of-Nation Movement envisions to build resilient and robust communities that promote the welfare and well-being of the Filipino people,” Panelo said.
In December last year, the President, through Executive Order 70, ordered the creation of a national task force to end the local communist armed conflict in the country.
The task force, chaired by the President, is mandated to craft and implement a “National Peace Framework that will include development and peace-building initiatives in conflict-affected places.
Duterte previously expressed hope the five-decade communist insurgency would be over by the second quarter of 2019, citing the fall of many rebel fronts in the provinces.
He also repeatedly appealed to communist rebels to lay down their arms and surrender to authorities, promising to provide them with housing and livelihood assistance.
On March 21, Duterte announced the “permanent” termination of peace dialogue between his administration and the communist leaders, saying he is no longer interested to forge a peace pact with them.
The President, however, backtracked on his previous pronouncement on Saturday, April 13, after he revealed that he was considering to re-open talks with the communist party by creating a military-led peace panel.
“If you want to talk to me, I’ll send someone else. You talk to each other. I don’t want to talk anymore,” Duterte said in his speech in Bukidnon.
“I’ll look for another way [to revive the peace talks] and new people to talk to. Maybe one, two or three from the military, and … Maybe around five. Two civilians and three from the military,” he added.
But Panelo said the creation of the new peace panel was not tackled during the Monday’s meeting.
Explaining the President’s latest pronouncement, the Palace official said Duterte “has always made himself open to any talks on peace.”
“If you will notice, the President has always made himself open to any talks on peace. Ever since, sinasabi niya ‘yun (he’s been saying that), ‘di ba palaging sabi niya, ‘Bigyan natin ng kaunting window (he always says, ‘Let’s provide a window),” Panelo said.
Malacañang has said that localized panels would be formed following the dissolution of the government panel. It said sectoral representatives, local government units and the military will make up the panels for localized peace talks.
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