Army officials call ending arm struggle with NPA for peace, development

From the Philippine Information Agency (Dec 31): Army officials call ending arm struggle with NPA for peace, development

STA. CRUZ, Ilocos Sur – Some officials of the Philippine Army operating in Ilocos provinces including Central Luzon have called the ending of arm struggle with the New People’s Army (NPA) for peace and development in the countryside.

Their call is in line with the aim of President Rodrigo R. Duterte to end up the problem of insurgency in the country for the sake of peace.

Major General Angelito M. De Leon, commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry (Kaugnay) Division, said that there is no winning on fighting the other Filipino people.

“Instead of fighting, let us, therefore, focus on delivering services and development to the people,” De Leon said.

He added: “One of the saddest things that we can think of is, Filipinos are killing Filipinos because of non-sense arm struggle. It has created violent incoherence among Filipinos. Communism is already a thing of the past.”

For Colonel Milfredo M. Meligrito, commander of the 702nd Infantry (Defender) Brigade said, “poverty cannot be solved by arm struggle and that this ceasefire be the first call for unity to our brothers and sisters in the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)- NPA towards a peaceful and prosperous living.”

For his part, Lieutenant Col. Eugenio Julio C. Osias, the commander of the 81st Infantry Battalion based in Sta. Cruz, Ilocos Sur, said “48 years is long enough to realize that arm struggle is nothing but a tragedy to the Filipino people. We are encouraging our brothers and sisters in CPP-NPA to reunite with the government for a common purpose and direction.”

The CPP has been waging an insurgency campaign for the past 48 years with the intent of changing the democratic system of the Philippine government into a communist system.

The situation has caused the country around 43,000 insurgency-related deaths between the year 1969-2008 and economic stagnation, which made the Philippines laggard among the Asian nations in developing natural and human resources and missed the march of Asia to prosperity during the circa 80s up to the present.

De Leon said the situation affects the country’s economy due to loss of one percent from the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and having military expenditure of $ 6 billion dollars.

“If those amounts of money were spent for the development of our education, health, and poverty alleviating programs, it is supposedly a big help for our country,” De Leon said.

“As the spirit of Christmas is passing on us, it is very timely that we show our love and care to others; it is time to bury our hatred and let peace dominate us, and it is time to go back to our families and loved ones,” De Leon concluded.

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/381483070772/army-officials-call-ending-arm-struggle-with-npa-for-peace-development