By Rey Anthony Chiu
PIA - Bohol
A no-show by invited cause oriented groups during the latest Local Peace Forum (LPF) last week failed to dampen the spirit of
Bohol peace advocates.
During a recent interview, Capitol Peace and Order consultant, Romeo Teruel said the LPF would continue to find ways and opportunities where issues and concerns can be ventilated when the Provincial Peace and Order Council could not provide the venue.
Earlier, cause-oriented groups here led by Bayan through its legal adviser Atty. Artemio Cabatos wrote to LPF chair, Bohol Bishop Leonardo Medroso that [the cause-oriented groups] said it would be hypocritical for them to attend [to the invitation] when they do not trust the forum anymore.
Earlier, Bishop Medroso invited anew the cause oriented groups to come to the forum and talk about certain issues, foremost of which is that the rebels who escaped Bohol during the height of passive military offensives are coming back and are using the cause oriented groups as cover.
On the issue raised by Bayan over the unsolved killings in Bohol, Teruel said the police are as good as the evidence they gather.
“if they do not trust the LPF, where else can they go?†Teruel asked.
“Rallies do not attract people anymore and these could not be effective if the issues they raise during rallies can not be solved by the local levels,†he said.
Over this, Teruel said Bohol is still accepting people who would want to finally return to the folds of the law.
This is despite that fact that the country still has to get its national amnesty program sailing anew.
“We still need to have a congressional concurrence,†he shared even as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has already pushed the amnesty for congressional action.
The amnesty quashes away all [criminal] liabilities incurred by former rebels who are hailed to court for aggressions associated with their being rebels.
“Anytime when the concurrence is given, it would just be easy as we have set up the mechanisms we need to keep the program operational, he added.
Over this, local peace advocates also hope that this year would be a year when the stalled talks resume just as Malacanang is keen on continuing the peace talks in Mindanao that has stalled after rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front committed atrocities to innocent Christians and Muslims last year.
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