Piecemeal conduct of peace process

It was not subtle but a very obvious attempt to send across the message that President Rodrigo Duterte is not one to coddle any erring police or military men. It was to dispel the image being pictured about President Duterte of tolerating violations of human rights and due process in the killing of drug suspects under his administration’s anti-drug war “Tokhang.”

As the Commander-in-chief of all armed forces and the police, the image problem stems from President Duterte’s consistent avowals “to assume full legal responsibility” for “Tokhang,” or even “to rot in jail” for policemen carrying out the anti-drug war amid accusations of summary execution of drug suspects.

That’s the subliminal message when President Duterte read the riot act before some 200 errant policemen from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) who were trucked to Malacanang Palace last Tuesday. Accompanied by Philippine National Police director-general Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and NCRPO chief Gen.Oscar Albayalde, President Duterte minced no words in berating and castigating the errant NCRPO cops.

Though their cases were not related to “Tokhang,” the policemen who were made to face the wrath of their foul-mouthed Commander-in-chief are those charged with various administrative and criminal cases ranging from minor infractions like tardiness and absenteeism to extortion offenses.

After a headcount was done at the Palace grounds, it turned out only 228 policemen, who included two Unfortunately for us women cops, actually went Filipinos, we will not through this public shaming see enduring peace any by no less than their time sooner. visibly irked Commanderin-chief.

A total of 167 of other so-called erring cops who failed to show up at Malacanang will face new charges for ignoring orders to report that day. As originally announced by the PNP chief, there were 387 policemen facing various criminal and administrative charges instructed to go to the Palace for deployment to clean up Pasig River. Fortunately for them, Pasig River was clean that day, according to the President who crosses this water body going to and fro the Palace from his official residence located across it.

Hence, the President decided to instead give them the option to resign, retire, or be deployed to conflictstricken Basilan where he said there has been very low police-population ratio. He cited a number of policemen were killed in the province in the line of duty. At least there, he pointed out, they can redeem themselves and become heroes instead, killed in action while battling communist insurgents, Moro terrorists groups, and other criminal elements.

A day after the presidential dressing down at the Palace, the NCRPO chief disclosed during our weekly breakfast forum Kapihan sa Manila Bay none yet from any one of the 228 erring policemen has availed of the three options offered to them.

Nonetheless, whether they resign or retire, Albayalde made it clear they will still have to go through administrative proceedings before different investigation bodies from the PNP Internal Affairs Service to People Law Enforcement Board (PLEB), and, before the National Police Commission (Napolcom) chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government.

And if there are criminal offenses involved, Albayalde cited, these erring cops will also be prosecuted before the courts as well as before the Office of the Ombudsman in cases of graft and corruption. Although still presumed innocent until otherwise found guilty, Albayalde explained, the erring cops are also accorded due process.

The other day, PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Dionardo Carlos explained the President’s verbal instructions to deploy the erring cops to troubled spots in Mindanao is not really a form of punishment but part of their internal rules and regulations at the PNP.

Speaking of troubled spots, President Duterte also showed his fangs against the New People’s Army (NPA) following the insurgents’ kidnapping and killing of six soldiers in Mindanao while supposedly there was still an existing ceasefire being observed by both government forces and the communist rebels. After lifting the government’s unilateral ceasefire, the President subsequently suspended the on-going peace negotiations here and abroad with the communist umbrella group National Democratic Front (NDF) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Appearing also as one of my guests at the Kapihan sa

Manila Bay, fellow columnist of The STAR Satur Ocampo lamented the hasty decision of President Duterte to suspend the peace negotiations which he cited have advanced already so much at this stage. Ka Satur acts as the “independent cooperator” for the NDF-CPP-NPA in the on-going peace talks with the Philippine government.

Ka Satur, who is Bayan Muna president and ex-party-list congressman, noted with concern the President apparently reached these decisions without first consulting the members of the government negotiating panel holding peace talks with the NDF-CPP-NPA and its advisers at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Sec. Jesus Dureza, who heads the OPAPP and Labor Sec. Silvestre Bello III, as the chairman of the government negotiating panel, promised to attend next week’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay being regularly held at Cafe Adriatico in Malate.

Ka Satur, however, took the opportunity to ventilate the purported sentiments of his comrades in the battlefields who complained about the ceasefire violations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Under the guise of conducting humanitarian services dubbed as AFP “Bayanihan,” Ka Satur echoed the accusations of his comrades that military men have been intruding into the NPA stronghold barangays to neutralize their supporters.

Contrary to claims of the AFP, Ka Satur pointed out, their “Bayanihan” have not dwindled the NPA ranks but in fact, has been growing in numbers. Thanks, he said, to the alleged military abuses committed against their supporters in these barangays and they gained more new recruits. Thus, he laughed off claims by administrations before President Duterte which have tagged the CPP-NPA as “spent force” and paid a dear price for it.

Sadly, the conduct of the government’s peace process with insurgent groups – both with the CPP-NPA-NDF and with the Muslim secessionist rebels – have been conducted on piecemeal basis throughout these years.

Unfortunately for us Filipinos, we will not see enduring peace any time sooner.