Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana on Thursday, May 13, said “nobody wins a war” in response to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson’s plan to create a local peace panel.
Lacson on Wednesday said he would create a peace panel for talks with local Communist rebels.
The peace panel will be a multi-sectoral body that will include the private sector, including the Church and the academe, Lacson said.
This is in compliance with a national government directive and they will be guided by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, he said.
Sobejana, who was in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, said: “I don’t think that war is the solution to the security problem”.
“There are other dimensions and factors to be addressed, so that should be given focus. Nobody wins in war,” Sobejana said.
Peace talks have been devolved to the local chief executives, he said.
Sobejana also attributed “winning of peace” to the programs of the National Task Force–Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict.
NTF-ELCAC is a mechanism of convergence among the security sector and other partners in local government units and the civilian sector, he said.
Asked if the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Army’s drive against rebel forces, Sobejana said “all of us have been affected by the COVID-19.”
The AFP has allocated 30 percent of its manpower to support local government units in their battle against COVID-19, he said.
Sobejana is from Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental, and his wife is from Isabela, Negros Occidental.
He was in Barangay Cabacungan, La Castellana, for the unveiling of the bust of Negrense hero, 1Lt. Lolinato To-ong Sr., a medal of valor awardee.
Sobejana said he was feeling nostalgic because his career as an active military officer began in La Castellana.
He was a platoon leader in Barangay Cabacungan under Charlie Company of the 11th Infantry Battalion in 1987 at the height of the Communist insurgency in Negros, Sobejana said.
Almost every week there were armed skirmishes with the New People’s Army then, he said, adding that his visit Thursday was the first time in more than three decades.
The security situation has improved and there a lot of developments in Cabacungan, he said.*