TO finally put an end to the longest-running communist insurgency in Asia, the Philippine government has agreed to open peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF). Negotiators from both the government and the NDF met in Oslo, Norway, where both parties will be discussing and negotiating the terms of the peace agreement.
Among those included in the talks were political prisoners recently released, and this development was reciprocated by the declaration of a cease-fire by the New People’s Army (NPA) and the release of policemen held under its custody.
Unlike previous attempts at forging peace with the Reds, optimism and expectations are higher with the current talks, as former agreements have been reaffirmed and the peace panel has agreed to complete crucial discussions within six months. The Duterte administration has shown its full commitment and determination with its bold steps and approaches in achieving lasting peace.
Founded by student leader Jose Maria Sison in 1969, the NDF and its armed wing, the NPA, were established in response to the widespread discontent to the Marcos leadership. Following the “people’s protracted war” strategy of Mao Zedong, the group spent the next few decades waging an armed rebellion against Philippine government forces with the goal of toppling the incumbent Philippine government and the establishment of a new revolutionary and socialist republic. But does the peace process mean an end to the insurgency and the end of the progressive movement? As Sison affirmed in an interview, participating in the peace talks was not “the equivalent to surrendering and giving up their demands.”
Perhaps, the biggest mistake that previous administrations have made was merely initiating peace talks in the hope of ending hostilities through an indefinite cease-fire and hopes of total surrender. If we closely look at the history of the Communist Party of the Philppines (CPP)-NPA’s armed struggle, extreme poverty and underdevelopment in the countryside, landlessness and the crony capitalism prevalent under former President Ferdinand E. Marcos are what fueled rebellion in the first place. Even after countless attempts at reforms and development, the same situation remains prevalent, hence, why the armed struggle continues 47 years later.
Among the goals of the CPP-NPA in moving the peace talks forward is the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms. These reforms include genuine land reform, a national industrialization policy, an independent foreign policy and a reversal of neoliberal economic policies. These are the important steps that the group believes will address the structural inequality and growing gap between the rich and the poor.
The ultimate goal of the peace talks for the Left is to eventually implement meaningful reforms and a lasting peace, which 47 years of armed struggle in the countryside has failed to achieve. And as the CPP-NPA leadership, many of whom are in their golden years, passes on the baton to the younger generation, hopes that what they have spent decades fighting for would come to fruition, with any luck, we will achieve more than just peace, but lasting reforms.