THE Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) said that if the people and its government fear the acts of terror done by the communist group, they will lose.
“If we are terrorized by an act of terror, then we lose already. In fact, it should strengthen us all,” Opapp spokesperson Jesus Dureza, said during his speech in the Culmination of the National Peace Consciousness Month in Davao City Friday, September 28, 2018.
Dureza said that the communist group only showed as to what extent they should go to bring trouble to the government.
“[Attacks] done by a group that has no other objective but to sow terror and harm. But they [the lumads] have stood their ground,” he said.
“Pero I’m sorry, they cannot terrorize anyone,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dureza cited the Ata-Manobo performers who rendered a thanksgiving song to the government for giving them “bright future.”
He said that they will continue to protect the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) through the military assigned in the area. However, he said that it will not be possible to guard everyone.
“We should work together in bringing about that conducive environment that will make it safe for everyone,” Dureza said, adding that it will be the only possible way to make everyone safe and attain peace.
Dureza urged other people who did not undergo such threats that the IPs received, to be inspired to help out in achieving peace though integration.
“We only provide the road, we provide leadership, but it will always be all about the response of the people on the ground,” he said. (LHC)