Eastern Visayas top cop open to local negotiations with rebels

TACLOBAN CITY, March 14 (PNA) -– The regional chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is open to local peace negotiation with members of the New People’s Army in Eastern Visayas to end insurgency.

Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Jesus Elmer Villacorte made the statement after a group of armed rebels stormed the police station of Balangkayan, Eastern Samar last week.

He said the extent of positive change will depend on how government officials listen to the grassroots and tackle the root causes of the more than four decades of civil war.

Villacorte said talking with the NPA here in the region is a necessary first step towards reaching an acceptable agreement.

“We anticipate that there will a lot of bumps along the road,” said Villacorte. “But ultimately, this is something that our own local officials and people from Eastern Visayas have to work out with each other,” he added.

“We have our own issue to discuss with them and I believe that a place of greater freedom and tolerance is not only a moral imperative, it also helps to keep us safe,” he added.

However, Villacorte said in pursuing peace and freedom within our locality is not to say that every problem has a military solution.

“The police and the military will always be the backbone of that leadership. But military action cannot be the only – or even primary – component of our leadership in every instance,” he added. (PNA)
JMC/SQM/JAZMIN BONIFACIO/EGR