INQUIRER: “GIBO RULES out return to talks with rebels…saying they continued to sow terrorism in the countryside.”
After the AFP’s 79th Infantry Battalion killed, or massacred, 19 individuals, including two minors, in the marginalized community in Toboso, Negros Oriental, former peace negotiators called for the revival of peace talks.
What are the facts about terrorism in the countryside? KARAPATAN, the Human Rights Watchdog for many years now, has reported many government-neglected and unresolved AFP terroristic attacks on peasant communities. It has documented the bloody track record of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), with its red-tagging and terrorist-tagging operations.
“Sixty extrajudicial killings in 2023 compared to 41 in 2022…four victims of enforced disappearances in 2022…11 in 2023…66 percent rise in the number of victims of indiscriminate firing from 12,263 in 2022 to 20,391 in 2023….” “KARAPATAN has documented as many as 1,609,496 victims who have been threatened, harassed and intimidated under the Marcos Jr. regime, mainly through red-and terrorist tagging.”
Just a few of several instances of AFP terroristic attacks recorded by KARAPATAN: “On August 19, 2023, soldiers of the 96th IBPA and elements of the Masbate PNP killed women farmers Jelyn Guis Dejomo, 56; Sheryl Salazar Dejoma, 29, Divina Ajitan, 60, all residents of Barangay Jagnaan, San Jacinto, Ticao, Masbate…The AFP claimed…(they) were members of the NPA killed during an encounter.” “On January 17, 2024, soldiers from the 62nd IBPA killed former peasant activist Dioneseo Baloy, 67 and former driver activist Bernard Torres Sr., 56, at the house they were staying in Hacienda Gomez, Barangay Sag-ang, La Castellana, Negros Occidental. The soldiers dragged the two men out and interrogated them before gunning them down.
To justify the killings, the 62nd IBPA released a statement saying that Baloy and Torres died during a clash between their soldiers and members of the NPA.” “On February 21, 2024, elements of the 79th IBPA killed farmer Jose Caramihan in his hut in sitio Mansulao, Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante City, and accused him of being an NPA member.”
PROTECTOR OF THE PEOPLE
Just in case Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro will be open-minded enough to dialogue with KARAPATAN officials, or with a leader or two of the street parliamentarians, regarding the AFP record of being so-called “protector of the people” in the provinces, especially in marginalized communities, he will have a more objective and impartial view of what is happening on the ground nationwide, particularly how the AFP troops are “protecting” the people.
And, then, he will be guided more objectively (for the sake of peace and progress for marginalized communities) if his Trump-like full-blown militaristic approach is indeed the way to appease the rebels, whom he accuses as “terrorists” without hard facts in his hands, and apparently, simply believing what the US military authorities are saying!
What’s wrong with peace talks, when guns on either side are silent and ammunition are used only by the AFP to fend off armed attacks by any foreign invader against the country and the Filipino people?
The many past government peace negotiators, many civil society organizations, NGOs, academicians, peace-focused political parties, and countless concerned citizens have seriously called for peace talks between the government panel and representatives of the NDF-CPP-NPA.
Why not give it a chance, President Bongbong Marcos, as we face particularly an energy crisis today, disrupting the lives of millions of our countrymen, especially the poor, marginalized and vulnerable?
PEACE TALKS NOW!