Shared commitment vs. armed conflict
Every Filipino has an important role to play in promoting and safeguarding the peace of our country! The problems that persecute our national peace will not be fully cured unless we work together to achieve and protect them. This is what the group of farmers showed at the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac after withdrawing their support to CPP and NPA. About 120 former members of the Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita or AMBALA solidly cut off their organization's ties to communist rebels. AMBALA is known for its alliance with rebel groups that exploit the issue of land distribution to farmers being the way of NPA to recruit members for conspiracy against the government. This is another way of CPP-NPA’s defrauding not just the farmers but all the Filipino people!
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According to former AMBALA leader Florida Sibayan, they always participate in CPP-NPA rallies and other activities because the CPP and NPA pledged to provide them with agricultural lands but it only caused great chaos to their organization and livelihood. This is the reason why they formed a new organization called Malayang Magsasaka ng Hacienda Luisita or MALAYA which is a legal group that supports the government and is free from fraud and deceptions of the CPP and NPA. This is the decision of farmers that deeply rooted in their desire for peace and development. Indeed, we cannot achieve our desired peace and prosperity if we do not decide to end the fraud and dual revolutionary tactics of the communist rebels.
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That’s why President Duterte issued the Executive Order No. 70 or the whole-of-nation approach to end this 50-year armed conflict because now is the time that the whole nation takes its action to solve this problem that derails our national progress. As the farmers in Hacienda Luisita have decided to cut back their support for CPP and NPA which reflects on their contribution in our fight against armed conflict, we must also decide to protect and win our peace and prosperity. This is the shared commitment that we must cultivate in the midst of the legitimate issues in our society that we need to address. We must not depend on the government to take care of everything for us Filipinos, because we also have the responsibility in the peace and development of our country. Because at the end of the day, not only a few will benefit from it but all of us Filipinos!