The new secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND), Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., is against the possible peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“To enter into peace talks, I have always been against that,” said Teodoro in the ANC interview.
What is happening for Teodoro is silly because they are still fighting and can run for office. He said this could be considered a violation of the democratic process.
Teodoro explained if their struggles are solid, there is a proper place and political process under the Constitution.
It should not be resorted to any violence and fighting against the government.
“It cannot take up arms and just violate the Constitution, in the same way as we do not want rightists also to take up arms against the government. It works both ways,” said Teodoro.
For Teodoro, who became the DND secretary of the Arroyo administration, what the CPP is fighting for is not about ideology but gaining power.
“The ideology part, I have never been convinced that it is ideological. It’s all getting, taking power for whatever reason. Even in other countries I mean the sole authority of the communist party in other countries is a dictatorship in itself,” added the new DND chief.
New DND chief against peace talks with CPP
On the issue of red-tagging, Teodoro announced that any violation of the law should be disciplined.
He praised the achievements of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the group that has been linked to incidents of red-tagging by various groups.
He cannot ignore what NTF-ELCAC has done in disbanding the communist fronts.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government is now pushing for the revival of the ‘joint committee meeting’ between the China Coast Guard and the Philippine Coast Guard to discuss issues in the West Philippine Sea.
It can be remembered that the annual joint committee meeting of the CCG and PCG was started during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte and is now being revived under the Marcos administration.
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