the grp and ndfp peace keeping operations

7/29/2019 The GRP and NDFP Peace Keeping Operations

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Anavie R. Alegre 12/10/12

B.A Pol Sci III

The GRP and the NDFP Peacekeeping operations

Last December 3, 2012 we were attended a forum about the Peacekeeping operations

between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic

Front of the Philippines. Im not really good with Acronyms so at first I didnt have any idea

what NDFP means. I asked one of my classmates for its meaning, and he told me what it stands

for. I think that they shouldve mentioned what those acronyms stands for since a lot of people

who were present in the forum were not Pol Sci majors, I didnt even know myself. I really liked

the speakers introductory speech, he told us that our country is under a civil war which most of

the populace doesnt even know that this kind of war is just outside their doorsteps.

We may not feel the tension between the government and this group but I think that the

reality of war and the fact that most people are not aware of this is horrifying. That moment

when you imagine that you, a student or someone whos working, living your life normally and

as mundane as ever was taken by surprise when suddenly you get to be involved in a crossfire

between two armed groups who are supposed to be your brothers and is supposed to keep the

peace for the sake of innocent citizens are trying to kill each other because of some dispute over

a difference in perspective. Whats more is that because of this you lose all that you have in just

a blink of an eye. I think that is just sad, the thought of a civil war is just sad. I think that there is

no such thing as a just war. All wars are the same; it brings brothers to the battlefield to kill each

other. But I wonder, what these people think when they kill someone who never did anything bad

to them, just because they were indoctrinated to believe that what theyre doing is good, do they

even think twice? Or do they just kill each other like wild beasts only governed by their instinct


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to kill? What does justice even mean? I think that there is no definite meaning of justice. Some

people just use this word as a form of bluff to bend the will of others. Justice is just a matter of

perspective, and powerful people have the power to bend it.

To be honest, I didnt really know that the NDFP was a very big revolutionary group

encompassing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)which I apparently spelled wrong

when I asked a question, I got the letters mixed upand the New Peoples Army (NPA). I was

interested in knowing about the peacekeeping operations, the thought of it excited me a little.

The process brings people together to compromise and agree on cooperating with each other and

lessen the shedding of innocent blood. They conduct confidence building measures to lessen

tensions and build trust as well as agreements. Furthermore, what makes this even more

interesting is the fact that this had been a long running conflict and still there is no substantial

progress that have happened, or so I think. I think it could be very difficult to reconcile the two

entities primarily because their way of thinking is way to different and I doubt if one of them

would want to give up some of their demands, this might be one of the reasons why up til now,

this issue is not yet settled. Although they already had negotiations leading to major written

agreements. Some of these agreements are as follows:

(1)The Hague Joint Declarationwhich primarily talked about keeping peace and theprevention of armed encounters.

(2)The Joint Statement of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) Panel orPeace talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF delegation.

(3)Joint Agreement of the GRP and the NDFP on safety and Immunity Guarantees.


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The talk was a bit long and because of that I loosed focus and got a bit distracted. Most

especially since in a certain part of the speakers talk I thought that he was just running in circles,

talking about the same thing over and over. After awhile he talked about their negotiation with

the GRP and the tensions that had happened in the middle of this. I was overwhelmed with the

people who were involved in their cause, since I thought that they were all amazing and

intelligent people. I didnt really got all of their names, I only remember Jose Mari Sisons and

Luis Jalandonis because these names were always mentioned by the speaker.

It was an amazing experience to be able to meet a consultant from the NDFP. However, I

was confused by a lot of things, one is about the CPP. I dont really think they perform what

most of the political parties here in our country do. I think one of the reason is because they want

to recreate the government, changing the political system in general which encompasses the

party system. I think its fine to wish for change. In one of our Pol Sci classes, one of our

teachers mentioned that if the institutions change, it also changes the image of the political

environment. But I think it would be very difficult since we cant afford to have an all out civil

war, much worse a divided country. Number one reason is a bloodbath of innocent blood. That

is why war is ugly because it takes innocent lives away, even if its just an accident. The second

reason is, we are facing a lot in our country nowadays, most notably the China threat.

I think that people should cooperate if they want peace. They should come into terms with

each other. In the part of the GRP, I think it is very difficult compromise to the demands of the

NDFP primarily because I think the NDFPs way of thinking is too idealistic and entails a

demand for immediate change. Immediate change is difficult, since, some thingsjust cant be

fixed right away. Even the Earth didnt just appear out of nothingness or in just a blink of eye it

became what it is now. It took billions of years before it became like that. Formed by the


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accumulation of gases and space dust. Or like how islands form. It took thousands of years for it

to be an island. And if the GRP decides carelessly, our country could be doomed. I think it is

really difficult and it further confuses me.

Another thing I am confused about is what perspective in Identity Politics is this part of? In

the class, our teacher told us that this was a part of a nationalistic movement which is part of

identity politics. I am really confused, well, it might be because of my lack of better judgment,

but this is how I truly feel.

What came to mind at first is that, it was quite comical on my part, I thought it was ridiculous.

A nationalistic movement inside a nation that has basically the same nationalistic identity, which

is unlike the cause of the MILF, I thought it was silly. Which really confused me even more. I

thought their cause was far from being a nationalistic one when were talking about identity

because they dont really move because they pursue a common identity, they move because of

their ideology. Which leads us to a question. Is ideology part of Identity politics? Does it play a

role?

I really dont think ideology is part of identity politics. Reading Alcoff, I drew a distinction

between culture and ideology, both being separate from each other. Identity is part of culture, it

is embedded. I am happy with the kind of democracy our country is in now, I dont really want

to change it for something else, although I still think that the German model is brilliant, but it is

too expensive for a country like us to follow Germanys footsteps. Furthermore, if Identity

politics does encompass ideology, can we relate this to the Bonshin War of Japan? When

Japanese rebels wanted to make a New Order and overthrew the Imperial Family? I think this is

somehow related to the cause of the NDFP. Now that I think about it, it makes sense. Maybe


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ideology is really part of Identity Politics, but how? Well, I guess, that would be one of the

questions that we were about to answer through our Pol Sci 164 class I hope.

The vibe that the forum gave me in general was both educational and awkward. There were

so many people in the MILC that I was a little bit overwhelmed. I didnt realize until later the

importance of having given the chance to hear something like that. But then I realized that not all

people are given the chance to meet someone from the NDFP face to face, we even got to see

what looked like exclusive pictures of the NDFP from the speaker which really made me feel

culture shock. Ive never seen anything like it. The talk made me think about a lot of things, one

thing is that is there even a possibility that this revolution could be eradicated and people dont

need to go to the mountains or use arms to forward what they want to the government. I imagine

a world wherein these people could live in peace. I think that would be very good. Well, Im just

being an optimist, but the truth is, we can never predict what will happen in the future. This

world is way too anarchic and people are way too self interested for peace to actually come to

being. People may try to bring peace but there would always be something that would disrupt

this peace and make people hate each other thus causing war. Peace and War are like twins; they

always go together. If there is peace, there is a risk for war. If there is War, there would always

be the notion of peace.

the grp and ndfp peace keeping operations

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