WHILE the use of arms to achieve change should not be encouraged nor condoned, the government together with the people, nevertheless must address the socio-economic-political issues that the armed Left has raised not only about the present society and government in general, but also about situations in the countryside as well.
National elections should have been the best opportunities in democracy to address them when other peaceful means have failed. They were in some significant ways but always failed to lead to the elimination of the armed conflict entirely. The coming one this 2022 is another chance to strengthen that national unity and confidence to do it or it will just be another one that will impact otherwise.
While the present administration pursues a resolute effort to crush the NPA militarily it keeps the door open for those who wish to return to the fold of the law and implements a countryside-biased program of services. This is not really something new and has been done during past administrations in various ways. The only difference now is the determined stand not to rely on the peace talks with the negotiating panel of the armed Left, the CPP-dominated NDF.
The thing to show now is how successful the present effort has been, something that must be an issue for the coming national elections. While government spokesmen have been very optimistic that the armed conflict is coming to an end, the root problems that have enabled it are still far from being solved.
So far, I have not heard anyone from the legal opposition addressing the above concern. President Duterte in his last State of the Nation Address was more concerned about the drug problem.
That either intentionally belittled the armed Left further for being so insignificant now to be mentioned and indicated full trust in how the government task force is doing its job or is another fade-away move from the problem that past administrations resorted to when their terms were about to end.
In the countryside where outdoor campaign is expected to be less restricted in this pandemic, one particular indication to watch is whether candidates will still be paying the NPA for campaign permit.
Of course, no candidate will ever admit that. But will they denounce the “violent means” of the NPA by at least publicly proposing peaceful alternative under the laws? Or “dedma” na lang uli?
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