NDF panelist hits govt peace process chief

THE chief peace negotiator of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) blasted the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process ( Opapp) and Peace Process Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. for slamming the negotiations with the communists, calling the office “irrelevant.”

Fidel Agcaoili, chairman of the NDFP panel, in a statement said the Opapp “has long been irrelevant” to the peace process.

Agcaoili noted how the Opapp recently opposed the revival of talks between the Philippine government and the NDFP, which he said was “negating the very title of its office, becoming the office against the peace process.”

“Under retired Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., the Opapp has become part of the military’s psywar machinery in attempting to deny the existence of the armed conflict between the forces represented by the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and the NDFP,” he said.

“It thus sabotages the process of resolving it through peace negotiations between the two parties with the forging of agreements on basic social, economic and political reforms to pave the way for a just and lasting peace,” Agcaoili said.

Last month, Galvez said the proposed Comprehensive Agreement on Social Economic Reforms was not needed and earlier this month stressed that the NDFP, as well as the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), were becoming “irrelevant.”

Galvez had also pointed out that Executive Order 70, which forms the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) was a “major component” of the peace process.

Agcaoili said Galverz had been consistent in attacking the talks and all agreements by the two negotiating panels.

He also laid down what he called a “money- making scheme” on the P21- billion budget for the NTF- Elcac and what was behind the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.

Agcaoili claimed that the government was “buying off with kickbacks” the city and municipal councils to declare NPA members as persona non grata.

He also accused the military of “manufacturing fake” surrendering rebels “to obtain the reward and integration money,” citing the manipulated photo that was published late last year, and appointing of “paramilitaries” among indigenous peoples.

Agcaoili accused the Opapp of being “deeply mired in corruption,” citing the agency’s recent press release that he said was “meant to justify the huge increase in the 2020 military and intelligence budget much to the detriment of resources for social services, disaster preparedness and response, and health.”

He added that the Opapp was “demonizing” self- exiled CPP founder Jose Maria Sison and the NPA members, which he called “revolutionary forces.”