Resolving 5-decade conflict no piece of cake – Pamintuan
ANGELES CITY — Mayor Edgar do Pamituan, adviser of the Philippine government peace panel, said that resolving the fivedecade conflict is “not a piece of cake.”
Pamintuan, who is also the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) president, disclosed this during his state of the city address (Soca) recent l y.
“Having to resolve nearly five decades of conflict is no ‘piece of cake,’ I tell you. The more important to me, at this point, is to keep burning the flames of peace.
The fact is, we have never reached this far insofar as the peace process is concerned during all the past administrations,” the mayor said.
Pamintuan attended the second round of talks between the GRP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Oslo, Norway on October 6 to 9.
“I have had my attention elsewhere, attending to various tasks and concerns, including the peace process where I am adviser on behalf of local governments attending international conferences on local governance among others when my attention was called that I need to report on the state of the city and deliver my annual State of the City Address,” he said.
During his speech, he mentioned that the election of President Duterte is a key element in the story for this year.
“We now have a President who was a long-time local official, a city mayor, and who thus know and understand local governance, and the issues and challenges local governments face. We are in good hands, in other word,” Pamintuan said.
He pointed out that Duterte realizes the importance of the representation of local leaders because of the president’s experience in local governance.
“While it also helped that we vigorously supported him during the elections, his understanding of local governance has been the primary reason that I have been given certain roles that have national significance, such as the peace process, particularly the negotiations between the government and the CPP-NPA-NDF,” Pamintuan said.
“To finally have peace in our country, and to contribute even in small measure towards its achievement, is already a great honor for me and for the city and people I represent,” he added.