Talking and Fighting for Peace

Talking and Fighting for Peace

The communist armed rebellion in the Philippines is the longest armed conflict in Asia. The government has tried its best to end the conflict through peaceful means. It has been working hard to engage the communist extreme left in the peace table but to no avail. Its armed violence continues while its propaganda machines are depicting the inevitable victory of the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist movement.

The attacks in the recent month are proof that like toothaches, the armed conflict will not just go away. It seems that the National Democratic Front (NDF) can always find reasons to stall the peace talk every time it wants to back out from the peace negotiation. Just recently, the NDF demanded for the release of certain political prisoners as a pre-condition for the continuation of the peace talk. Of course, the government cannot just do so. Almost all of the personalities that the NDF wants to be released are facing criminal charges in courts for the commission of crimes unrelated to rebellion. Thus, it is not easy for the government to have them released from jail, even for the sake of the peace process.

Seriously, it seems that the talks are not getting anywhere. Unfortunately, the government is not successful in the battlefield either. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is tasked to end the armed conflict by military action. It solely shoulders the responsibility of waging war against all armed rebel groups in the country. But despite its efforts, the rebellion continues to drag on.

The communist movement seems to gain strength continuously. Sadly, many politicians are colluding with the CPP-NDF-NPA for their political ends. Funding and material supports are coming to the communist extreme left not only from businesses but also from politicians who made use of its armed partisans during and after elections. Ironically, this relationship between them is both parasitic and symbiotic. They both derive benefits from this unholy partnership despite their opposite interests.   

Of course, the government could not just stop the talking with the CPP-NDF-NPA. However, it has to be more creative this time. The armed communist rebellion is a complex campaign involving both political and military approaches. Unfortunately, the government response to this campaign often results to political losses both in the local and international fronts.

            “Even wars have limits,” says the basic principle of the laws of war. But the armed conflict we know does not show any regards to certain humanitarian principles applicable to internal armed conflicts. What we see are soldiers (who do not have combat duty) and civilians being liquidated by armed partisans. These violations of basic humanitarian principles make the need for peace imperative and urgent.  

            Ending the armed conflict would not guarantee peace. On the other hand, not ending it or doing nothing about it is fraught with grave danger of atrocities and destruction. A Stalinist Godless utopia means the subjugation of Philippine society to totalitarian ideology and the death or imprisonment of many who would oppose the CPP.

Talking peace is not enough to end the armed violence. The armed violence should be ended, and in truth, talking peace is only one of the many means of doing it.