USAPANG PANGKAPAYAPAAN

DALAWANG paksa ang aming tatalakayin: una, ang usapang pangkapayapaan ng Government of the Philippines (GRP) at NationalDemocratic Front (NDF), political arm ng Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP); at pangalawa, ang nabimbin na formal investigation ng International Criminal Court (ICC) sa sakdal na crimes against humanity kay Gongdi at mga kasapakat.

Nabalam ng anim na taon ang peace talks sa pagitan ng GRP at NDF. Hindi ito tinangkilik ni Gongdi. Nang nakuha ang suporta ng mga rebelde sa halalan noong 2016 at nanalo si Gongdi, kanyang binalingan ang mga sumuportang rebelde at pinuksa. Marami ang namatay sa kanilang hanay. Tuluyang naputol ang usapang pangkapayapaan.

Umuugat ang armadong himagsikan ng NDF-CPP-NPA sa malalim na dahilan: matinding kahirapan bunga ng mga suliraning panlipunan; at kawalan ng kalutasan sa maraming suliranin na umubong sa paghihikahos. Hindi nawala ang armadong pakikibaka mula nang sumulong ang kilusang Katipunan mahigit isang daan taon na nakalipas. Pinangungunahan ng puwersang nasa ilalim ng NDF ang mga nagsusulong ng armadong pakikibaka.

Hindi nalutas na militar ang armadong paghihimagsik. Ipinilit ng militar ang solusyong militar ngunit hindi ito ang solusyon. Kailangan ng usapang pangkapayapaan upang magkaroon ng political settlement sa sigalot. Ayon kay Teddy Casino ng Bayan Muna, hindi ang pagsuko ng puwersang armado ang solusyon. Ang kailangan ay magkasundo ang panig ng gobyerno at mga rebelde kung paano sila magsasama at magtratrabaho para sa kapayapaan.

Aniya: “The peace talks are meant to address the roots of the conflict. They are not surrender negotiations. They should not be a means for one side to capitulate to the other. The talks should be meant for both parties to come to an agreement on how they can work together to solve the country’s ills and social conflicts. Only in this way will the talks lead to a just and lasting peace.

“Previous governments and NDFP panels had already agreed on a four-point agenda, protocols and processes for the talks. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.”

Sa tingin namin, may suporta sa publiko ang mungkahing usapang pangkapayapaan. Ang kailangan ay pagnanasang pulitikal (political will) upang matapos na ang armadong sagupaan na patuloy na bumabagabag sa bansa sa mahigit na 50 taon. Wala pang ibinababang detalye tungkol sa peace talks. Pinag-uusapan pa kung saan gaganapin at ang detalye ng agenda. Ngunit matutuloy ito sa umpisa ng 2024.
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MAHIRAP lang makaunawa ang ilang nilalang tungkol sa isyu ng formal investigation ng ICC kay Gongdi at mga kasapakat. Tuloy ito at walang balakid upang pigilin ang mga imbestigador ng ICC upang gawin ang mandando na siyasatin ng pormal ang madugo pero bigong giyera kontra droga ni Gongdi.

Walang ibinabang executive order, memorandum circular, o tagubilin si BBM upang pigilin ang mga taga-ICC sa sandaling pumasok sila ng bansa. Malayang silang maglabas-pasok sa Filipinas upang gawin ang utos ng pandaigdigan hukuman. Mukhang naunawaan na iyan si Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra na iyan ang polisiya ng gobyerno ni BBM. Hindi na niya kailangan pagtakpan si Gongdi na dating niyang amo noong siya ang DoJ secretary.

Sinabi ni Guevarra na walang legal duty ang gobyerno ni BBM upang makipagtulungan sa ICC. Iyan nga ang punto kaya pumasok ang ICC dito. Naging inutil ang gobyerno upang habulin ang mga opisyales ng gobyerno na sangkot sa mga maramihang patayan, or extrajudicial killings (EJKs). Hindi makialam ang ICC kung gumagana pa ang sistema ng katarungan sa bansa. Hindi na nga gumagana kaya sila nandito.
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MAY sinabing maganda si Leila de Lima. Kung hihingin ng pagkakataon ang kanyang presence upang tulungan ang mga pamilya ng mga biktima ng EJKs ni Gongdi, uunahin niya iyan kesa ang pansariling paghahabol niya sa ginawa ni Gongdi. Ani Leila: “My priority is assist ICC, help get justice for Duterte’s drug war victims.”

“If investigation by the International Criminal Court will be in full swing and there will be some urgency there, then I can first focus on that before pursuing my own case against Duterte,” aniya.

May sinabi rin si Leila tungkol sa mga inginangakngak ni Sara tungkol sa kanyang pagtutol sa pakikipagtulungan ni BBM sa ICC. Wala kaming babaguhin sa pahayag ni Leila:

There are several things wrong with VP Sara’s statement on the BBM administration’s possible cooperation with the ICC in its investigation of the Duterte drug war, leaving a bad taste in the mouth of everyone concerned.

First, while purporting to champion the position of PBBM as chief architect of the nation’s foreign policy, VP Sara is actually undermining this presidential prerogative when she said she intends to submit her own legal position on the matter to the DOJ. But as a member of the cabinet, VP Sara has no business submitting such legal opinion in her capacity as DepEd Secretary. The ICC matter has nothing to do with the DepEd.

Second, if she is submitting her legal opinion in her capacity as VP, then she is accomplishing precisely the very opposite of her admonition that we should respect the President’s position, by preempting the finality of said position even when she has no authority to do so. In her capacity as VP, she is not a member of the Cabinet, and therefore has no role whatsoever in shaping foreign policy at the Cabinet level.

Third, by submitting an opinion to the DOJ on the ICC matter, VP Sara is putting the DOJ in an awkward position. The DOJ Secretary does not answer to the VP, but by giving the DOJ a piece of her mind, Sec. Remulla is hard put to ignore her submission, even if this is legally untenable or inconsistent with the administration’s own position, by virtue of the formal rank of the VP even if she has no official capacity to help render legal opinions on foreign policy.

Fourth, VP Sara is the least objective in giving her 2 cents worth on the issue of whether or not BBM should allow the ICC investigators entry into the PH. She is a potential subject of the ICC probe, if not already among those being investigated by the ICC in her role as Mayor of Davao from 2010 and within the coverage of the jurisdiction of the ICC over the Philippines while the latter was still a member state to the Rome Statute. The ICC investigation does not only cover the drug war EJKs from 2016, but all the way back to 2011 when the PH ratified the Rome Statute, during which time VP Sara was Mayor of Davao and thus has to answer for the prevalence of EJKs in her city within the scope of the ICC investigation.

All told, the Dutertes of Davao are not the best resource persons for the administration in deciding whether or not to cooperate in the ICC investigation, considering that they are the ones being investigated for their role in the operation of a death squad in Davao City during the period within the scope of said investigation.

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Email:bootsfra@yahoo.com