The peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) should resume at the soonest possible time to prevent the loss of more lives in the province, a priest said on Friday, following a spate of insurgency-related violence in recent months.
On May 23 a man was killed in Balocaue, Matnog, when troops of the Philippine Army’s (PA) Scout Ranger fired at his house where New People’s Army (NPA) members took refuge from the heat of the sun, said Rev. Fr. Bong Imperial, an advocacy priest for the Diocese of Sorsogon.
The man’s wife and their 1-year-old child were both wounded by bullets from the military, and were taken to the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital to receive medical attention, he added.
Worse, the military insisted the man’s widow is a combatant and that they will file charges against her, Imperial said.
The encounter claimed the lives of three NPA guerrillas, he said. The casualties on the government side were allegedly larger in number.
Killed were part of the 100 Scout Ranger force who newly graduated from military training, deployed in the province to undergo their first actual combat operation, Imperial said.
At about 8 p.m. on June 10, another insurgency-related violence broke out. PA Sgt. Rene Madrona, an intelligence operative, was shot dead by armed men near his house in Poctol, Bulusan.
At 4 p.m. the following day, PO3 Christopher Escreza, a Philippine National Police (PNP) intelligence officer, was killed by gunmen at the gate of Saint Joseph Parish Church in Barcelona.
On the same date Escreza was shot dead, the NPA posted on their web site a statement admitting the killings of both Escreza and Madrona as part of their campaign to dismantle counter-revolutionary intelligence networks of the military and police in the province.
The NPA have been liquidating intelligence operatives in the past years as they consider spying into the revolutionary movement a serious threat.
On June 21 the military and guerrillas exchanged fire again in Barangay Fabrica, Barcelona. Explosives were blasted. Fortunately, no casualty as reported. But military operations continue sweeping remote areas.
The resumption of the stalled peace negotiation, required to soothe both sides, can bring stability and peace in the province, as well as other parts of the country, where poverty and injustice have prompted the poor to take up arms, Imperial said.
Part of the peace negotiation is “cessation of hostilities,” Imperial said “to prevent the growing number of children becoming orphaned by combatant and noncombatant parents.”
Communities will also take a respite from the fear gripping them, triggered by the violence of the armed conflict, he said.
Imperial said both parties have to “observe the separation of combatants from noncombatants at all times” during encounters and combat operations.
The observance of which is incorporated in the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, he said.
The agreement was signed by the government of the Republic of Philippines panel and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines panel in Hague, the Netherlands on March 16, 1998.
Imperial said the government needs to look into working out the resumption of “serious peace talks” that seek “tangible results” to decisively address armed conflict by resolving its roots.
The government came up with a peace accord with the Moro rebels in Mindanao in a recent month, promising to resolve the cause for armed strife in the South, why not with the Left, he asked.
In a recent interview, Satur Ocampo, former NDF spokesperson, said insurgency may continue as long as its roots are not addressed. The government should take the resumption of peace talks seriously, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.