The designation of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as a terrorist group should cut off their access to funds and resources, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Monday.
But Lacson, who chairs the Senate’s defense committee, said the government should still continue to welcome back former rebels to the fold of the law.
“It is called resource denial operations and rightly so, in order to tighten the noose on the financial and logistical needs of the CPP-NPA,” he said in a statement.
He noted the CPP-NPA are now officially a “designated terrorist group” by virtue of the authority vested by the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 upon the Anti-Terrorism Council.
With this development, he said he doubts the security sector will still recommend the resumption of centralized peace talks to President Rodrigo Duterte.
This is more so after they “validated the information that after all, peace talks are just part and parcel of their long-drawn strategy to consolidate their forces and stop the momentum gained by the security forces,” he said.
On the other hand, Lacson said the government should continue applying the non-traditional left-hand/right-hand approach by welcoming back ex-rebels.
He said the government should ensure their personal safety and that they will be treated justly, in the same way as the earlier surrenderees who appeared before the Senate red-tagging hearings last November and December.
“While we should not give up on peace, we should learn from the experiences of the past. It is better to have localized peace efforts, with guidance and support from the national government,” Lacson said.
Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)
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