PEACE – is what our soldiers, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are longing, not war. In the recent statement of the 10th Infantry Division Commander Major General Eduardo Año, he called for the permanent ceasefire against the New People’s Army (NPA) and hopes to resume the pending peace talk with the rebel group. In the same statement, he also said that the peace talk between the government and the NPA was stopped because of the unbelievable conditions the group has set and the ongoing struggle their comrades are waging in different parts of the country.
Clearly, a classic example of NPAs delaying tactics, of their means to achieve Mao Tse Tung’s ‘protracted war’. A war that will not only waste lives of our soldiers but also lives of our innocent brothers and sisters, more specifically the LUMADS. It is according to them, their way to win the battle against the government.
To them, what they are saying is the ideal and the best way, but what ordinary people think and experience is the brutality of their actions, the harshness of ideas and continuing love of violence.
Who then will we believe more? Is it the NPAs whose mind and heart are fixed on not settling their problems and demands with the government OR the government who exhausts all means to achieve peace? The NPAs are clearly and obviously for WAR and not for peace. Even if we have the means, the power, the resources and we are legitimate to wage and engage war against this rebel group, we still WANT PEACE NOT WAR.
Defense News Daily Philippines 