Gonzales asks CPP to declare ceasefire but gets rejected

By Ronron
July 2, 2007

National Security Adviser and concurrent Defense Acting Secretary Norberto Gonzales asked the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) leadership on Monday to declare a ceasefire against the government to set the ground for a resumption of the peace talks.

But CPP spokesman Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal immediately rejected the call, saying it is “insincere” and a ceasefire is an “insidious precondition.”

Gonzales told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo after he took over as Defense Secretary that he went to Norway last week to explore the possibility of peace talks with the CPP following the falling out in 2004 due to the group’s inclusion in the terrorist lists of the US and the European Union.

“I am not against communism. I am only against armed rebellion. That’s why I’m advising the front organizations of the communists, why they can’t bind themselves together into a real political party and contest the elections? I want to show them that in other parts of the world, the communists have discovered a better way of achieving political power, not through armed rebellion,” Gonzales said.

He said that a declaration of ceasefire may even be considered when the government decides on which group will be classified as terrorists once the Human Security Act of 2007 or the Anti-Terrorism Law takes effect on July 14.

But Rosal said the government should first address the root causes of rebellion before the movement can declare a ceasefire.

And with the passage of the Human Security Act of 2007, a resumption of the peace talks is getting closer to impossible.

“Declaring a ceasefire before the roots of the armed conflict are addressed is tantamount to asking the revolutionary forces to surrender the right and initiative to defend themselves and the people and to wage an armed struggle, while the puppet, reactionary regime carries out its fascist onslaught and all-out campaign of terror,” Rosal said in a statement.

But Gonzales said how can the problem of poverty be addressed when the armed struggle of the NPA is one of its causes.

“In the principles of democracy, armed rebellion has no clause in Philippine society. This will have to be emphasized. If you want to be in government, engage us politically, but not through the use of arms. That is no loner acceptable anywhere in the world,” Gonzales explained.

Rosal said the government has to show its sincerity in resuming peace talks with the CPP by addressing the root causes of armed rebellion, stopping the spate of extrajudicial killings and abductions, and work on the removal of the group from the terrorist lists of foreign governments./DMS