Just and lasting peace

ROSES & THORNS

- PIA ROCES MORATO

In a previous announcement, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People's Army (NPA) said they would not be declaring a holiday truce with the government this year. While I am not surprised due to their continued duplicity, on the other hand, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, through its National Security Adviser and NTF ELCAC vice chair Secretary Eduardo Año, said the CPP-NPA-NDF's actions have consistently demonstrated a lack of sincerity and commitment to peace.

This holiday season when the theme primarily has been since time immemorial enveloped by peace and goodwill towards all men, the government has also made a call for all Filipinos to stand together against armed ideologies. In the past few months, it has been rather shocking for many of us to see the goings-on at the House of Representatives, where the young people—the Kabataan—and all their rhetoric, including their mishap on the impeachment of the so-called "wicked witch of the East," are undoubtedly telling of the dangers that have now taken center stage in Congress.