MANILA, Philippines – The proposed anti-communist task force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) would, ideally, not involve gunfire.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said on Monday, September 24 that the task force would comprise of representatives from “almost all” government agencies and would primarily work on boosting localized peace talks with communist rebels.

In a nutshell, Albayalbe said, the ideal scenario is for all groups involved to be talking to each other and not fighting each other.

“Now we are pushing for localized peace talks, that (anti-NPA task force) is part of it. The reason [for its proposal] is for the localized peace talks,” said Albayalde in a mix of English and Filipino during a press briefing in Camp Crame.

“This is not for,” he said, raising his hands in front of him and pointing his index fingers to each other made them them look like guns shooting. 

Why does this matter? The armed rebellion of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is the longest-surviving insurgency in Asia, with the fighting being waged by its military wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).

Previous campaigns to have insurgents lay down their firearms have failed, including attempts of President Rodrigo Duterte. The president has declared the NPA as a terrorist group after a series of attacks on government forces.

Duterte’s declaration has forced communist leaders into hiding, even as Left-aligned legal groups call for the continuation of the talks.

What localized peace talks? Instead of speaking with the leaders of the communist leaders, the government is taking the diplomatic battle to the communities, where each area has differing levels of influence of the communist party.

Taking the spotlight in this are the local government units, Albayalde emphasized.

As of February, the government has noted the surrender of about 1,000 communist rebels, most of whom are supporters and not combatants.

No gunfire at all? Albayalde clarified, however, that if ever there are armed groups deployed in the areas where there are peace talks, government forces will not back down.

“And of course localized peace talks, it has, of course, ‘yung mga operations. Kung talagang sa mga presence ng mga armed groups, kasama ‘yung operations (For dealing with the presence of armed groups, operations are included),” Albayalde said. – Rappler.com