The fallout of the clash which resulted in 19 dead rebels is still being felt. Former government peace negotiators are calling for a resumption of peace talks. The say the death of these rebels underscores "the urgent need to finally settle this long-standing armed conflict."
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2222060/negros-clash-spurs-call-to-revive-talks-with-reds |
Former government peace negotiators called for a resumption of peace talks with communist rebels following the killing of 19 people in a recent military operation in Negros Occidental, saying the two sides once came close to reaching an interim peace agreement to end the nearly six-decades-old insurgency.
“The nineteen (19) deaths in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, on 19 April 2026 underscore the urgent need to finally settle this long-standing armed conflict,” they said in a statement on Thursday.
The statement was signed by Hernani Braganza, a former agrarian reform secretary; Efren Moncupa, a human rights lawyer and former member of the government peace panel; Jaime Aristotle Alip, founder of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development-Mutually Reinforcing Institutions; Francisco J. Lara Jr., a peace and conflict studies expert; and Roberto Ador, a former political detainee with a master’s degree in international public health from the University of Washington.
They were members of the government “exploratory team” involved in backchannel talks with the rebels while serving the government panel negotiating with the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed wing, the New People’s Army, and its political umbrella, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP), from 2014 to 2020 during the Aquino and Duterte administrations.
“There was, in those years, a functioning and serious peace process, one that came closer to securing lasting gains than most people know,” they said.
They said the discussions had included possible arrangements for the return of the late CPP founder Jose Maria Sison before his death in 2022.
Formal peace talks must be resumed “without precondition,” they said.They warned that the aftermath of the killings in Toboso had fueled grief and anger online, particularly among young Filipinos, and could further strain the fragile peace efforts.
The group joined calls for a “genuinely independent, third-party investigation” of the killings, which they described as among the most serious incidents that ended in the alleged killing of civilians in recent years.
Conflicting accounts
They urged Congress to create a joint fact-finding commission with executive agencies and civil society participation. Malacañang earlier said that President Marcos would not obstruct any investigation by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
The CHR has cited conflicting accounts from both sides and would seek to determine whether international humanitarian law was observed during the military operation.
The former negotiators said accountability efforts must be paired with long-term solutions addressing poverty, landlessness, and other root causes of the insurgency.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines defended the actions of the soldiers, saying their April 19 operation was “intelligence-driven” and that all those killed were armed and had engaged government forces in combat. It said the operation was a significant blow against the Northern Negros Front of the NPA and that there were no casualties among government troops.
The CPP said only 10 of those killed were members of the NPA and the nine others were all civilians. The civilians included Alyssa Alano, 22, a University of the Philippines (UP) student leader, Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, of the UP Open University, community journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma, 30, two Filipino Americans and two minors.
Ernesto Torres, executive director of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), identified the two American citizens as Lyle Prijoles, 40, from San Francisco, California, and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem, 26, of Steilacoom, Washington.
Anakbayan-USA said Sorem was a founding officer of Anakbayan South Seattle and one of many Filipino-American youths “who [sought] to understand their roots and the society that forces many Filipinos to migrate” and who chose to “contribute to change.”
US Embassy security alert
Bayan USA said Prijoles was a human rights advocate and a “well-loved member of the Filipino community.” It said he was killed while “immersing with communities in Negros to learn firsthand their daily hardships as farmers and their struggle for land and justice.”
On Friday, the US Embassy in Manila raised a security alert, warning American citizens of heightened risks in parts of the Philippines following the recent military operation on Negros Island, specifically the April 19 clash.
The embassy advised Americans in the Philippines and around the world to “abide by local laws and to avoid situations with elevated security risk.”
It identified rural and mountainous areas in Leyte, Mindoro, Negros and Samar as “areas of heightened concern,” noting that these provinces have seen recent deadly encounters between government troops and insurgents.
“The NPA is a designated foreign terrorist organization by the governments of the United States and the Philippines. Anyone in proximity of NPA elements is at grave risk of arrest, injury, or death,” the embassy said.
The embassy warned US citizens to avoid any contact or association with armed groups and to immediately leave areas where unidentified armed individuals are present.
Check aid groups
It also advised Americans engaging in humanitarian or volunteer work to coordinate only with properly registered organizations and to secure appropriate visas, noting that some groups may have links to violent actors.
It encouraged US citizens to list up in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to receive emergency alerts and assistance.
The NTF-Elcac welcomed the US Embassy’s advisory, calling it a “clear recognition” of the dangers posed by communist insurgent groups.
It said the embassy alert supported its long-standing position that the NPA is a terrorist organization and that its international networks had been used for recruitment and financial support.
The NTF-Elcac said the embassy’s warning that some nongovernmental organizations may have links to armed groups, underscoring concerns over alleged infiltration of legitimate civilian platforms.
Did they forget the result of former peace talks? The CPP wants the immediate implementation of the CASER which is a non-starter. The Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) can be read here:
https://ndfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FINAL-Jan-17-2018-NDFP-CASER-2017-Web-version-Ver2.0.pdfThis document is 173 pages of broad and general calls for reform in industry, culture, agriculture, and other areas of the government and Philippine life. The one thing lacking is there are no methods of implementing these reforms. There is nothing exact. It's as vague as the term "social and economic reform." After listing the various reforms sought for a particular area there is a schedule of implementation like the following:
Section 1. The Parties shall create a mechanism to ensure that the Agreement on Financial, Monetary and Fiscal Policies (FMF) is respected and effectively implemented.
Section 4. The Parties shall, within three (3) months from signing this Agreement, agree on the composition, functions, mechanics and logistics of the JMC-FMF and on the implementation schedule and work plan containing the dates and time frame for undertaking their respective commitments under the Agreement on FMF.
Peace talks are simply not going to happen especially since the DND considers the remaining rebels to be nothing more than terrorists.
 |
| https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/02/dnd-chief-rejects-peace-talks-with-reds |
Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Saturday, May 2, rejected calls for renewed peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), characterizing the group’s activities as criminal acts rather than political struggle.
Teodoro emphasized that the government should not engage in formal dialogue with a group he classified as a “terrorist” organization.
“No, I object to any peace talks with the NPA. The Filipinos are at peace. They are the ones disturbing the peace so why should we talk to them?” Teodoro said.
The defense chief argued that formal talks would validate the insurgents' motives.
“They’re committing crimes, plain and simple, and it’s terrorism, plain and simple. So to call for peace talks is to elevate the morality of their cause to something legitimate, which I cannot accept. Hindi ko matatanggap ‘yun (I cannot accept that),” he added.
Teodoro made the remarks weeks after a bloody encounter between the Philippine Army and remnants of an NPA group in Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19.
The clash resulted in the deaths of 19 alleged NPA rebels, but the CPP claimed only 10 rebel deaths, saying nine other fatalities were civilians, including University of the Philippines student leader Alyssa Alano, community journalist RJ Ledesma, and Filipino-American activists Lyle Prijoles and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem among others.
The Philippine government and the CPP-NPA-NDF remain without formal peace negotiations, years after talks collapsed amid renewed fighting and political disagreements.
Peace efforts between the two sides have spanned decades, beginning in the late 1980s under then president Corazon Aquino. While early negotiations opened channels for dialogue, they were repeatedly disrupted by clashes on the ground and mutual accusations of bad faith.
In the 1990s and 2000s, negotiations facilitated by Norway led to interim agreements, including accords on human rights and international humanitarian law. However, the parties failed to reach a comprehensive settlement addressing core issues such as land reform, governance, and disarmament.
Talks saw a brief revival in 2016 under former president Rodrigo Duterte, with both sides declaring temporary ceasefires and resuming formal discussions. The process broke down the following year after renewed hostilities and disagreements over conditions for continuing negotiations.
Since then, the government has taken a harder stance, including designating the CPP and NPA as terrorist organizations, while pursuing localized peace engagements and reintegration programs for former rebels.
Sarmiento sees localized peace talks as key to sustainable peace
While the defense sector maintained a hardline stance, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) pivoted toward a “holistic” civilian-led approach as newly-appointed Presidential Peace Adviser Mel Senen Sarmiento shifted the government's weight toward localized peace engagements and the total reintegration of former rebels.
Sarmiento vowed to deepen community integration efforts as the government pushed to sustain peace gains and bring former members of the CPP–NPA–NDF back into civilian life.
“Under the guidance of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., our goal is not merely the cessation of hostilities but the cultivation of a lasting peace that addresses the root causes of conflict and reinforces positive peace,” Sarmiento said.
The communist insurgency has spanned nearly six decades, affecting rural communities and straining local economies. The government has shifted to localized peace talks in recent years after national negotiations stalled.
“By bringing the government closer to the people, we are proving that the path of peace is far more rewarding than the path of armed struggle,” Sarmiento noted.
“We are committed to ensuring that every individual who chooses to lay down their arms is met with the tools and support necessary to become a partner in national nation-building,” he added.
OPAPRU said it was working closely with local government units, security forces, and national agencies to deliver basic services directly to communities once affected by conflict.
Sarmiento identified localized peace engagements as a key pillar in the peace efforts which involve dialogues and surrender processes at the municipal and provincial levels to address specific grievances.
He also pointed to the government’s amnesty program carried out with the National Amnesty Commission to provide legal normalization for former combatants. Reintegration programs were also expanded including livelihood aid, education, and psychosocial services for former rebels and their families.
“These initiatives aim to address the root causes of conflict while helping former combatants return to peaceful and productive civilian life,” Sarmiento said.
Even National Security Adviser Eduardo Oban Jr. agrees that peace talks are not in the nation's best interests.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2224169/peace-talks-with-reds-not-in-filipinos-interest-oban |
National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Oban Jr. threw his support behind Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.’s rejection of any peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
“Secretary Teodoro is correct in saying that to resume a national-level peace negotiations with a clearly spent, isolated, and criminal armed group would not advance the Filipino’s interest in security, peace, and development. It would only give their crumbling insurgency a veneer of credibility it no longer possesses on the ground,” said Oban, who is also National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict vice chair.
Oban and Teodoro’s reaction stemmed from the call of former peace negotiators batting for a resumption of peace talks in the wake of the April 19 encounter between the military and insurgents in Toboso, Negros Occidental that left 19 people dead.
“Since the formal talks at the time of President Corazon Aquino, the CPP-NPA-NDF has repeatedly exploited ceasefires and negotiations to regroup, rebuild networks, regain influence in communities, and project political relevance while its armed units continued to commit atrocities, extortion, recruitment, and violence against the Filipino people,” Oban siad.
He said peace talks should not be allowed to become a “lifeline for a dying insurgency… [that has] lost any semblance of integrity and belligerency.”
“To reopen negotiations at this time would only overturn the hard-won victories that Filipino communities have achieved through years of courage, sacrifice, and peacebuilding. Across the archipelago, towns and barangays that were once trapped in fear and coercion have rejected the NPA,” he added.
Likewise, Oban said any proposal to talk with the CPP-NPA-NDF today is tone deaf to the realities on the ground.
“The Filipino people are not asking for the return of peace negotiations that the CPP-NPA-NDF has historically abused. Our communities are asking for roads, schools, livelihoods, justice, local security, reintegration, healing, and protection from recruitment and intimidation,” he said.Oban also said peace must be built in barangays, families, schools, farms, indigenous communities, and former conflict-affected areas, where forms of conflict were actually suffered.
“Filipino communities are already empowered to pursue localized peace engagements that directly address the roots of conflict,” he said.
Oban said the door remains open for individuals who sincerely renounce armed struggle and return to the fold of the law.
“We reaffirm the State’s policy that those who wish to abandon armed violence are afforded lawful and dignified pathways through localized peace engagements, reintegration, transformation programs, and amnesty processes,” he said.
The Makabayan bloc has called out DND Secretary Teodoro for refusing to enter peace talks with the rebels.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2222573/makabayan-hits-teodoro-for-ruling-out-peace-talks-with-communist-rebels |
The Makabayan bloc on Sunday criticized Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. for opposing peace talks with Communist rebels, saying his stance undermines government commitments to pursue negotiations in one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies.
“Teodoro’s refusal to even consider talks ‘without precondition’ signals that the Marcos administration is choosing perpetual war, not a sustainable path to peace,” ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Sarah Jane Elago and Kabataan Rep. Renee Louise Co said in a joint statement.
On Saturday, Teodoro rejected calls to revive talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), branding their actions as terrorism and warning that returning to the negotiation table could “elevate the morality of their cause to something legitimate.”
The New People’s Army, the armed wing of the CPP, has been waging one of the world’s longest-running guerilla wars against the Philippine government for more than five decades that has killed more than 40,000.
Former government peace negotiators from the previous administrations have called for the revival of talks following a military operation in Negros Occidental that killed 19 people.
“Teodoro’s position is a dead-end policy that has been tried for decades and has clearly failed,” the Makabayan bloc said.
“The continued insistence on an all-out security solution has only prolonged the conflict, expanded militarization in the countryside, and resulted in repeated human rights violations, mass displacements and deaths of civilians,” the Makabayan solons added.
The Department of National Defense did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.The political bloc said Teodoro’s “war-first policy” should be abandoned and that negotiations addressing the socioeconomic and political roots of the conflict take front and center stage.
“The renewed call by former government peace negotiators underscores an important truth: there was a functioning peace process in the past, and there were moments when both sides came close to interim agreements that could have reduced armed hostilities and opened the door to addressing the roots of conflict,” they said.
In 2023, the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front signed a joint statement acknowledging the need to tackle the roots of the armed conflict, agreeing to pursue a “principled and peaceful resolution” to the decades‑long rebellion.
“We call for socio-economic and political reforms and an end to the all-out war mindset of the regime,” the Makabayan lawmakers said.
Clashes. however, have continued between the two sides despite the agreement to pursue such talks, raising concerns over the viability of negotiations to end the conflict that has long defied a peaceful resolution.
The Makabayn Bloc says Teodoro has a "war first police" but that is not true. The government has been urging all remaining rebels to surrender and accept amnesty. The CPP-NPA has been given many chances to lay down their arms peacefully.
Another province has been declared insurgency-free.
 |
| https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/05/southern-leyte-declared-insurgency-free |
The provincial government of Southern Leyte, in partnership with the Philippine Army, formally declared the province insurgency-free on Tuesday following the deaths and surrender of hundreds of leaders, combatants, and supporters of the New People's Army (NPA) in recent years.
Southern Leyte Gov. Damian Mercado said the declaration marks a significant milestone, reflecting the province's long-standing goal of ensuring a safe and secure environment for its residents.
"We will ensure that the province remains peaceful, safe, and orderly, where insurgency and other threats to security have no place. We will remain committed to all peace undertakings. This formal declaration is a manifestation of our commitment to a peaceful and progressive province," Mercado said during ceremonies at the Southern Leyte Provincial Capitol Gymnasium in Maasin City.
Lt. Col. Celeste Frank Sayson, commander of the Philippine Army's 93rd Infantry Battalion, said the declaration signifies that Southern Leyte has achieved a Stable Internal Peace and Security Condition (SIPSC) — the highest security classification under the government's counterinsurgency framework.
"It signifies that the area is considered insurgency-free, where the influence and capabilities of the NPA have been reduced to the point that they no longer pose a threat to public order and safety," Sayson said.
According to the military, communist insurgents first established a presence in Leyte in 1976 through Jun Alcober, an NPA cadre from Cebu. The NPA's Leyte Island Committee formed in 2000, followed by the Southern Leyte Front Committee two years later with support from rebels based in Bohol.
Authorities said the neutralization of key NPA leaders and fighters across Leyte Island led to the dismantling of insurgent fronts in Southern Leyte.
The last recorded armed encounter between government forces and rebels occurred in August 2021, when two NPA leaders and a soldier died in a clash in the upland Barangay Lawgawan in Bontoc, Southern Leyte.
Officials noted that attaining SIPSC status indicates the absence of significant insurgent threats, allowing local governments to shift focus from security operations to development initiatives, including infrastructure and livelihood programs.
The designation is also expected to boost investor confidence and support business expansion, particularly in the agriculture sector.
Southern Leyte comprises 500 barangays across 18 municipalities and Maasin City, its provincial capital.
There has been five years since the NPA and AFP clashed in Southern Leyte and now they are apparently no more. Peace talks did not accomplish that feat.
No comments:
Post a Comment