Davao City mayor forms committee for localized talks with NPA rebels

From the Business Mirror (Sep 13): Davao City mayor forms committee for localized talks with NPA rebels

The city mayor here announced she has created a committee to pursue localized talks with the revolutionary Left.

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio announced the creation of the Davao City Local Peace Committee, or the DC Peace, during her State of the City Address on Tuesday.

She said this is “the city government’s initiative to address issues and concerns that involve the insurgents in the city”.

The DC Peace would be the city government’s negotiating arm in any likelihood of talks with the New People’s Army (NPA).

“Because it is the obligation of your duly-elected public officials to pursue just and lasting peace for the city, we have created the Davao City Local Peace Committee, with the objective and the function to manage the localized peace talks with the New People’s Army operating within the area of responsibility of Davao City,” Duterte-Carpio said.

She identified the members as Maria Luisa Bermudo of the City Social Services and Development Office; Elisa Lapina of the City Legal Office; Jessielito Areja, barangay captain of Barangay Malabog; and Catholic Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao City.

Her office was still searching for any candidate to head the committee and wanted the chairman to come from the private sector.

The committee would last only until November next year “if there would be no significant development and movement in the localized peace process”.

If the committee failed to serve its purpose, Duterte-Carpio said her administration would “still pursue other options to attain just and lasting peace in the city”.

She added the only condition she had was to talk with “even those not from the city but have been operating under rebel groups here”.

“They are not necessarily residents because we understand that some of them come from other provinces. But the talks is only for groups that are in Davao City,” she said.

Duterte-Carpio earlier tendered a possible holding of local talks coming after her father, President Duterte, canceled the talks in February. On the same month, the regional operations command of the NPA responded to Duterte’s tender, saying it was also interested in the talks.

Rigoberto Sanchez, its spokesman, said it would suspend for a few hours the NPA operations when the talks are held and to order “any NPA camp in National Democratic Front territories in Davao City and nearby areas to host the talks with Mayor Duterte at a mutually agreed time and date”.

Sanchez said in a statement the NPA would be ready to discuss with the mayor “any matter that she would like to take up with the revolutionary movement, the duties and responsibilities of the people’s democratic government, the role of the NPA, the on-going all-out war of the AFP and the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.”

https://businessmirror.com.ph/davao-city-mayor-forms-committee-for-localized-talks-with-npa-rebels/