THE DEPARTMENT of Justice (DoJ) on Wednesday, Feb. 21, filed a petition to formally declare the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), as terrorists. The petition was filed before the Manila Regional Trial Court by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter L. Ong in behalf of the DoJ following President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s order in December to tag the rebel groups as terrorists. In January, Mr. Ong said his office is focusing on incidents that transpired “after (Mr. Duterte) assumed (the) presidency on July 1, 2016,” noting that the President at that point showed “good faith and sincerity for a just and lasting peace”, but the NPA carried on with “tactical offensives.” Prior to the terrorist declaration, the President also terminated the peace talks with the Reds through Proclamation No. 360 signed Nov. 23, 2017, which cited that the National Democratic Front and CPP-NPA “engaged in acts of violence and hostilities, endangering the lives and properties of innocent people” amid the efforts of the administration to reach a peace deal. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR