BusinessMirror LOCALIZED PEACE TALKS WITH REDS: WILL IT REALLY WORK THIS TIME?
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Sunday, July 8, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 267
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By Rene Acosta
ITING a litany of reasons, the defense and military establishments have recommended to President Duterte the termination of peace talks with the leaders of communist groups through the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). While the Commander in Chief pounced on the idea, defense and military officials have followed up their proposal by pushing for the holding of localized peace talks, a matter raised by Duterte several days later, or on Wednesday night to be exact. The notion of localized peace talks advanced as Duterte contemplates whether he should altogether scuttle the negotiations, which have been postponed for three months, to give the government time to conduct “grassroots” consultations and for the President to review all the previous agreements signed with the NDFP.
Local-level negotiations
IN pushing for the termination of the talks and its holding at the local level, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana gave a number of reasons that mostly revolve around the alleged insincerity of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), in truly pushing lasting peace. Lorenzana’s indictment of the CPP and the NPA, which was supported by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), did not exempt the NDFP, which is their umbrella organization, along with all of the other existing democratic forces
NEW People’s Army members march during the celebration of the 42nd anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines on December 26, 2010, on Mount Diwata in Mindanao. AP/PAT ROQUE
and groups in the country. The defense chief claimed that the NDFP could not comply with the preconditions set by the Commander in Chief—there will be no coalition government, no attacks and collection of revolutionary taxes; and the NPA must stay in safe areas and must not recruit for new members— before the government could return to the negotiating table.
PRESIDENT Duterte looks through a broken rifle muzzle after hundreds of weapons confiscated during the siege in Marawi were destroyed at the Philippine Army headquarters in Manila on December 13, 2017. AP/AARON FAVILA
The noncompliance with the conditions equates to insincerity, according to Lorenzana.
Plot vs Duterte?
LORENZANA and the military, through its spokesman, Col. Edgard Arevalo, also accused the NDFP of hatching a three-year plan to oust Duterte through the CPP and the NPA, which separate-
ly held their largest plenum and meeting while a unilateral ceasefire was being observed in 2016. In pushing for the localized peace talks as a new scheme by the government in its long and arduous quest to end the almost 50year communist-led insurgency, the military claimed that 18 ethnic tribes, whose members comprised roughly half of the 20 million pop-
ulation of Mindanao, called for localized negotiations and the termination of the talks with the NDFP. Joining the chorus, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza declared on Thursday “localized peace arrangements may be pursued by the local government units with the insurgents in their respective areas of responsibility.” Continued on A2
The quirkiness of legislating: Some bills range from amusing to just bizarre By Jose Oscar Magpusao | Special to BusinessMirror
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FTER two years in office, the House of Representatives in the 17th Congress has filed almost 8,000 bills, and a lot of them would often fly under the radar. However, closer inspection reveals that some possess a certain quirkiness and peculiarity that makes them worth checking out. Some of these bills may seem wasteful, the majority of them simple and impractical, and others just plain weird, but overall, a good number of them still exhibit merit and appear to have been the product of careful thought.
Humor wards
INSPIRED by the famous adage, “laughter is the best medicine,” one
such bill seeks to test the merit of applying humor to health care. House Bill (HB) 00631, principally authored by Rep. Scott Davies S. Lanete of the Third District of Masbate, mandates all private hospitals to establish Humor Wards, a place where patients are treated with recreational activities by appointed personnel qualified to induce laughter and joy. Those familiar with Patch Adams’s approach in the biofilm by the late Robin Williams, where he plays a doctor using humor to help
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ease patients through their sickness, will appreciate this bill. Some might argue that appropriating funds and personnel to focus on Humor Wards is wasteful, and that it could be used for more practical things like newer equipment and better facilities. However, seeing as patients admitted to the hospital are restricted to their beds and sometimes addled with heavy medication, with little or no form of reprieve, confinement can seem like a prison. “Studies show that humor therapy helps patients relax, primarily aiding them in dealing [with] and accepting pain,” the bill states. The bill acknowledges that the method’s efficacy has not been conclusively proven, but asserts it is beneficial in boosting patient morale, reducing stress and improving their quality of life. Continued on A2
LAWMAKERS in a huddle during a hearing at the House of Representatives on March 8, 2018. AP/AARON FAVILA
n JAPAN 0.4829 n UK 70.6561 n HK 6.8065 n CHINA 8.0472 n SINGAPORE 39.1425 n AUSTRALIA 39.4486 n EU 62.4523 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.2415
Source: BSP (July 6, 2018 )