Talking to Joma useless, Army says

From the Visayan Daily Star (May 20, 2019): Talking to Joma useless, Army says

An Army general said yesterday that engaging in peace talks with exiled communist rebel leader Jose Maria Sison is an exercise in futility for the government.

Brig. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said peace talks are deceptive ploys of Sison in order to pursue the ultimate objective of the Communist Party of the Philippines- New People’s Army- National Democratic Front, to overthrow the government.

Sison blamed anew the military for the delay in peace talks between the government and communist rebels, in a statement issued recently by the CPP.

Arevalo reported that 40 NPA regular members had given up the armed struggle and surrendered 31 firearms from January to May, in Negros Occidental alone, as a result of peace negotiations with local communist rebel leaders.

Instead of pursuing peace talks with Sison at the national level and allowing them to recoup, it is better for the government to pursue localized peace talks, like what is being done in Negros, Arevalo said, as he noted that local NPA leaders are more sincere and reasonable to talk to, compared to Sison, whom he described as long-exiled and detached from reality.

Citing documents recovered from numerous encounters with NPA rebels in Negros, Arevalo said that communist rebels are pursuing two forms of armed struggle, one with the NPA using guns, and the legal struggle, through the NDF, that will strengthen the armed revolution, using their mass based organizations, engagement in the electoral process, and in peace talks.

Arevalo, who used to be assigned in Panay as 301st Infantry Brigade commander, claimed that Concha Araneta, secretary of the Komiteng Rehiyonal-Panay, after decades of denial carelessly and incriminatingly stated in a press release they issued on April 24 that members of the Kabataang Makabayan, Makibaka, PKM, Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions, and allied organizations of the NDF have continually filled in the ranks of the NPA and CPP, immersing themselves in the countryside and cities while others perform underground work in urban areas.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2019/May/20/topstory7.htm