by Ram Maxey
THE recent call of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to the leadership of the New People’s Army (NPA) operating in the city to sit down with her and talk peace was a stroke of statesmanship. That is why, it was rather strange for the NPA to reject outright the mayor’s call. And stranger yet was the way the NPA, through its spokesperson, Rigoberto Sanchez, regarded the mayor’s offer of peace as a “stupid” call, nay, even “ignorant”.
By dismissing the invitation to talk peace, the NPA missed a golden opportunity to explain what really is their agenda in terms that will allow the ordinary Dabawenyo to understand the belligerence that is the hallmark of the NPA’s behavior towards the government and its functionaries Just by sitting down with the local leadership to talk about how to go about achieving peace in the city would have been a propaganda coup for the rebel movement and given it a human face that abhors the use of violence as a last resort to attain what it calls a just peace—regardless of whether or not the talk produced the desired results.
To dismiss Mayor Duterte’s call to talk peace is a sign of ignorance is for Sanchez to forget that it is her duty as mayor to ensure that her people live in a climate of peace and tranquility that will translate into opportunities for a better life for all—no less.
Davao City has gained the rare distinction of being cited as one of the most livable cities in Asia, an honor that attests to the kind of leadership that the Dutertes—father and daughter—have provided Dabawenyos the past two decades and counting. Mayor Sara perhaps realizes how fragile peace can be in these times marked by a proliferation of armed groups, loose firearms and improvised explosive devices (IED) that, in the hands of malefactors, constitute a potential threat to the city’s reputation as a zone of peace and economic prosperity.
If you were the city mayor, you would certainly feel deep concern for what could happen that would set back the clock to the pre-Duterte time when Davao City was just a large space on the map and not much else, really. The largest city in the world, kuno. Period. The killing fields and Nicaragdao, remember? The growing pains amid a burgeoning economy. It’s tough to guide the fortunes of a city of more than a million souls—Christians, Muslims, Lumads, migrants from everywhere in search of the elusive greener pastures and a new life in this part of Mindanao the “Land of Promise”. For a good number of them–especially the hardworking visionaries–that promise has found fulfillment while the others are on the way there, one way or another.
But out there in the countryside are the NPAs who remain the thorn on the side of peace-loving Dabawenyos. But they don’t want to talk peace, unless it’s on their own terms. They are on a different wave length than Mayor Sara and the rest of us. Pastilan!
