After declaring truce with Left, Duterte urged to pull out troops

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jul 26): After declaring truce with Left, Duterte urged to pull out troops
A lawmaker representing the youth sector said that the unilateral ceasefire that President Rodrigo Duterte offered to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), New People’s Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) should also mean that military troops will be pulled out from schools and communities.

READ: Duterte announces unilateral ceasefire with communist rebels

Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago said that the pull-out of troops should be done immediately in communities of the Lumad, or the indigenous peoples.

 

“While we welcome President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncement of a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP-NPA-NDF, we emphasize that the ceasefire will only bring peace to the hearts and minds of the multitudes affected by militarization if government troops will pull out of their schools and communities immediately,” Elago said.

The lawmaker lauded the inclusion of the concerns of the Lumad in Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) such as the issuance of Ancestral Certificates Domain Title to them so that they can return to their houses after they were allegedly displaced by the military.

Meanwhile, Elago expressed concern that Duterte barely touched issues on education.

“While the president mentioned the improvement of the Alternative Learning System, he was conspicuously silent on pressing issues faced by students including the implementation of the K-12 program and the spiraling rate of matriculation in the country. He could have at least addressed these concerns head on,” Elago said.

She also hoped that the firebrand President’s would not advocate in making the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) a mandatory course again.

During the SONA, Duterte announced that he will implement a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP-NPA-NDF “effective immediately.”

This has been welcomed by the NDF. NDF chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said that it will issue a “positive response.”

READ: Joma Sison: Duterte, NDFP on same path to ‘lasting peace’

“We share with President Duterte the determination to resume the formal talks and work for a just and lasting peace,” Sison said in a statement.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/799529/after-declaring-truce-with-left-duterte-urged-to-pull-out-troops