What peace we seek

Facebook grab of GPH-NDFP nego photo

 

PEACE IS in the horizon.

So was the multi-titled – mayor of Angeles City, 8^th Best World Mayor, president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, and GPH peace panel adviser – Edgardo Pamintuan quoted as saying upon returning to his beloved city. 

"We are tired from the long flight but it was a very fulfilling trip. After years of stalled negotiation, we now see peace in the horizon. The signing of the joint statement (between the GPH and the NDFP) in Oslo, Norway was a giant first leap towards the attainment of peace," Pamintuan said, via press release from his office.

Furthered the PR: The joint statement signed in the presence of Norwegian third-party observers and the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Royal Norwegian Government settled several issues including an indefinite ceasefire, amnesty for NDF leaders still in jail and the reaffirmation of previous agreements. It also brings to forth (sic) the agenda of social and economic reforms which is being tackled by a committee.

Pamintuan’s role in the talks, he explained thus: "As president of the League of Cities of the Philippines and Angeles City mayor, my role as adviser involved not only offering insights and the LGU perspective but also helped consolidate the GRP peace panel. We also achieved unity with the NDF panel even on several contentious issues laid on the negotiation table. Knowing the panel members from both sides because of my presence in previous talks and experiences helped a lot in the success of the first phase of the peace negotiation."

Yes, our collective pride as Filipinos swell at this epochal moment in our history as a nation, and prouder yet as Angelenos for the key part taken in it by our much accomplished mayor. Luid!

Peace for our time.

So British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain cried upon arriving at the Heston Aerodrome in London on Sept. 30, 1938, brandishing the Anglo-German Declaration he signed with Adolf Hitler.

“The settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine... We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again,” Chamberlain declared.

Less than a year after inking that agreement, Hitler incorporated the whole of Czechoslovakia into his Third Reich and invaded Poland triggering WWII.

No, by no means do I imply Pamintuan’s peace overture going the way of Chamberlain’s.

Pamintuan himself articulating the determination and express commitment of both panels to the peace process, thus: "We will work for that target even if we need to double or triple our efforts. We are optimistic about this timeline. However, should there be a need to extend that period, then everyone should be open to it. Peace negotiation is a process and must not be snagged by technical limitations. This is an almost five-decade war that is rooted on poverty, injustice and rights abuses and we must address the basic causes."

Poverty. Injustice. Rights abuses. Ay, there’s the rub.

The root of the insurgency finding fertile field in the all-out war against illegal drugs – the poor making up most of the so-far 2,000 casualties, in sheer disregard of due process, in virtual negation of the rule of law, in the naked abuse of human rights. All in the name of security, of safety, of public order. Of peace?

Alas, what can stop the killing? Indeed, why end the killing? When the greater part of the nation is heartily applauding.

Peace of the grave.

What peace there be for those neutralized, aye, exterminated with extreme prejudice?

But for those that loved them, who else shall weep for the eternal injustice of their peace?