Inihayag ng National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict nitong Miyerkules na wala na umanong active guerilla fronts sa New People’s Army kasabay nang pagsasabing “on their last leg” na ang rebeldeng grupo.
Ayon kay NTF-ELCAC executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., mayroon na lamang natitirang 14 na mahihinang guerilla fronts ang NPA.
“Ensuring their total dismantling will be our prerequisite for us to initiate our next steps in ensuring peace,” saad ni Torres at ayon pa sa kanya, anin na guerilla fronts ang tuluyan nang na-dismantle.
Dagdag pa niya, ang pagdurog sa mga nasabing guerrilla fronts ay magiging malaking tulong upang maipagpatuloy ang localized peace engagements ng task force.
Samantala, hinagupit naman ng National Security Council ang Communist Party of the Philippines matapos nitong ilabas ang kanilang pahayag para sa kanilang 55th anniversary.
“The Party outlines tasks to strengthen the NPA and the revolutionary armed struggle, and carry forward the revolutionary mass movement, and the people’s struggles against the US-Marcos regime,” saad ng CPP sa isang naunang pahayag.
Giit ni NSC assistant director general Jonathan Malaya, ang naging pahayag ng CPP na ipagpatuloy ang pakikibaka ay taliwas sa isinusulong ng pamahalaan na magkaroon na ng kapayapaan sa pagitan ng gobyerno at rebeldeng grupo.
“To make matter worse, the CPP in the same Anniversary Statement called the forthcoming ‘exploratory talks’ resulting from the Oslo Communique as ‘an additional battlefield to advance the national democratic cause’,” saad ni Malaya.
“The use of the word ‘battlefield’ is telling. This only means that the CPP have not abandoned its original position,” dagdag niya.
Kung matatandaan, noong nakaraang taon ay nagkasundo na ang pamahalaan at ang National Democratic Front of the Philippines na simulang muli ang peace talks matapos nilang pirmahan ang isang joint statement para sa “principled and peaceful resolution to the armed conflict.”
“Cognizant of the serious socioeconomic and environmental issues, and the foreign security threats facing the country, the parties recognize the need to unite the nation in order to urgently address these challenges and resolve the reasons for the armed conflict,” saad ng joint statement.
“The parties agree to a principled and peaceful resolution of the armed conflict. Resolving the roots of the armed conflict and ending the armed struggle shall pave the way for the transformation of the CPP-NPA-NDFP,” dagdag nito.
