The Department of National Defense (DND) has dismissed renewed calls for peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), saying, “Filipinos are at peace.”
Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro said on Saturday, May 2, that communist rebels are committing crimes and disturbing the peace, so the government should not talk to them.
“The Filipinos are at peace. They are the ones disturbing the peace, so why should we talk to them? They’re committing crimes, plain and simple. And it’s terrorism,” Teodoro said.
“To call for peace talks is to elevate the morality of their cause to something legitimate, which I cannot accept,” he added.
The statement comes after the deaths of 19 individuals—all considered rebels by the authorities—who were killed in a military operation in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, on April 19.*
