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New Approach to Peace: An Ultimatum for Surrender?

In the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the hardline position has decisively gained the upper hand at the same time that the Arroyo government is opening the floodgates not only to the presence of U.S. troops and war materiel but also for their participation in combat operations under the guise of “counter-terrorism.”

BY REY CLARO CASAMBRE
Bulatlat.com

After several months of waving the olive branch and paying lip service to the need for resuming peace negotiations, the Macapagal-Arroyo government finally showed its hand last week when it called on the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to “lay down their arms under honorable and reasonable terms and join the mainstream of society...”

The catch is that in the same breath, Arroyo suspended formal negotiations with the NDFP and the MILF. This effectively terminated the discussions on basic reforms which are in the substantive agenda (socio-economic, political and constitutional reforms in the case of the GRP-NDFP negotiations) or talking points (ancestral domain and the land problem, human rights, social and cultural discrimination, etc. in the case of the GRP-MILF negotiations). Arroyo arrogantly premised her call with the presumptuous and self-serving claim that “her administration’s policies and programs for the country’s poorest and for the Muslim brothers are already in place, which parallels (sic) their publicly declared goals of serving our people”.

“Backchannel talks” would be held in lieu of the formal negotiations. But with the substantive agenda or talking points excluded, the only thing left to negotiate would be what Malacañang calls “a settlement within the framework of our Constitution.” At the same time, Arroyo made it clear that she is prepared to “unleash the full force of the military” against the NDFP or MILF should they resort to “terrorist and criminal actions.” In other words, “Surrender now, or else...”

There is nothing new in this position. From the time peace negotiations became a possibility, militarists and hawks in the Manila government have persistently sought to impose the GRP Constitution as the framework for the talks and the laying down of arms or indefinite ceasefires as precondition to the holding of formal talks.

Both the NDFP and MILF have staunchly rejected these preconditions which they consider as tantamount to capitulation. Thus, negotiations have proceeded in earnest and have become fruitful whenever the GRP would temporarily put aside these preconditions and impositions. On the other hand, the talks would falter, stall and even break down every time the GRP takes the hard line and resurrects these preconditions and impositions. Further study would show that the GRP would seek a resumption of negotiations every time it is caught in a deep crisis situation (e.g., when it needs political stability or a diversion so badly). Conversely, whenever it feels a certain degree of confidence in handling the situation militarily, it would throw a monkey wrench at and even terminate the peace negotiations. Thus, Aquino’s “unsheathing the sword of war” in 1987 and Estrada’s “all-out war” in 1999.

Prepared to terminate

What is significant is that this shift to a mode and framework totally unacceptable to both the NDFP and MILF indicates that the Arroyo government is prepared to terminate the talks and confront them with sheer armed force. Corollarily, it shows a degree of confidence in resolving the armed conflict not so much by addressing its roots but rather by military means.

It is no surprise that in the peace negotiations the hardline position has decisively gained the upper hand at the same time that the Arroyo government is opening the floodgates not only to the presence of U.S. troops and war materiel but also for their participation in combat operations under the guise of “counter-terrorism.”

By now, it is common knowledge that the Balikatan O2-1 exercises are merely a cover for the deployment of U.S. troops in offensive operations against the Abu Sayyaf. What is not generally known yet is that Balikatan 02-1 is only the beginning of a long-term and more massive U.S. military presence and intervention in the Philippines, with the Arroyo government as an all-too-willing and compliant host.

In a breakfast meeting with church leaders recently, Macapagal-Arroyo said, “The Balikatan is done yearly. The idea is to hold it where it is needed. This year, it’s Basilan. Next year, somewhere else, depending on the situation.” Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, former Armed Forces chief and foremost militarist in the Arroyo government, has already stated several times that after the Abu Sayyaf, the NPA and MNLF would be the next targets.

Target locations

At this very moment, Balikatan 02-2 is being readied in Central Luzon, where several of the NDFP’s guerrilla zones are located. Undoubtedly, other Balikatan “exercises” are on the drawing boards, with the NPA and MILF areas as target locations. The media campaign to demonize both the NPA and MILF as terrorists who are as “evil” as the Abu Sayyaf , Taliban and Al Qaeda indicates that these revolutionary forces are being set up as “legitimate targets” in the counter-terrorist war, thereby justifying U.S. military intervention.

The Arroyo government displays sheer and shameless puppetry in collaborating with the U.S. while the latter violates Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity in its pursuit of world domination. In exchange, it hopes to neutralize if not decisively defeat both the NDF and MILF militarily, in addition to getting substantial military and economic aid from the Bush government.

Unfortunately for the hawks and militarists in the Arroyo government, except for high-tech surveillance gadgets, the U.S. can introduce nothing new into the AFP’s doctrine, strategy and tactics that could conceivably turn the tide or make it more effective in defeating the Abu-Sayyaf, much less the NDF and MILF. The U.S. has trained, armed, supplied, and even directed the AFP since it was formed as the “Philippine Scouts” during the colonial period. It is the U.S. that taught the AFP its “counter-insurgency” doctrine, from the clear-hold-consolidate-develop formula down to the names of their campaigns and operations. For example, Marcos’ “Oplan Katatagan” was a carbon copy of the Vietnam- and Low Intensity Conflict-vintage “Stability Operations.”

Even the new plan to deploy U.S. troops for “civic action” is nothing but the old “winning-the-hearts-and-minds” ploy that has miserably failed for the AFP in the Philippine countryside as it had failed for U.S. forces in Indochina. No amount of civil-military operations could cover up the widespread and massive atrocities and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law that invariably characterize counter-guerrilla operations of the U.S. and their AFP proteges.

Unfortunately for the people, there is no indication, much less guarantee, that the use of high-tech surveillance and destruction gadgets could mitigate or minimize these violations now institutionalized and euphemistically termed “collateral damage.” These violations, coupled with the drain on and damage to the economy, will only create more problems and greater misery on the people than the U.S. and Philippine governments aim or claim to solve. In the meantime, the Arroyo government, emboldened by the false sense of security it derives from U.S. support, is bound to perpetuate the anti-people and anti-national policies it is currently pursuing.

The NDFP has accused Macapagal-Arroyo of practically scuttling the peace negotiations and asking the NDF to surrender. It has shrugged off the GRP’s implied threats of unleashing the full force of the U.S.-AFP against the NDFP under the guise of “counter-terrorist war.” The NDF has said it will never surrender, and is prepared to intensify the guerrilla war in response to any escalation of the war by the U.S. and GRP. Bulatlat.com

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