OPAPRU HOPEFUL DEMISE OF SISON WILL END INSURGENCY

 

 

Dateline Kamuning:

 

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) on Sunday said it is hopeful that the death of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison will put an end to the local communist insurgency which has largely stalled development in the countryside.

"With the death of Mr. Sison, it is our hope that it will also put an end to the local communist armed conflict that claimed the lives of so many Filipinos and pushed back development in the countryside," OPAPRU chief Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a statement Sunday.

 

 

He also noted that the passing of Sison marks “the end of an era in the nation's history.”

With President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s banner of unity, Galvez said the government shall vigorously carry out interventions to sustain and build on the gains the government has achieved under the peace process.

The CPP earlier said the Netherlands-based Sison died around 8:40 p.m. Friday after two weeks of confinement at a hospital.

Sison's death came as the CPP would mark its 54th founding anniversary on Dec. 26. He founded the organization in 1968.

Sison was arrested during the time of President Ferdinand E. Marcos -- the father of the incumbent president -- in 1976, along with his wife. They were released from detention in 1986 after then President Corazon Aquino came to power.

In 1987, Sison went on a self-exile in the Netherlands after peace talks with the government stalled. Peace talks were on and off since then until President Rodrigo Duterte terminated the negotiations in November 2017. (PNA)