Ka Bayani Obrero, spokesperson for the National Democratic Front-Negros (NDF-Negros), lambasted the localized peace talks proposed by provincial officials in Negros Island. In a statement released on May 26, 2026, Obrero characterized the step as a calculated maneuver by the “reactionary state” to pacify and divide the revolutionary movement under the guise of diplomacy.

Obrero stated that the proposal exposes the government’s illogical stance of treating a historic, nationwide civil war as merely a collection of disjointed, regional misunderstandings. He emphasized three core points refuting the provincial officials’ arguments:

First, Obrero argued that the localized approach relies on the false premise that armed conflict is an isolated phenomenon. He countered that the state acts as if the starvation and measly wages endured by sugarcane workers and farmers in Negros are completely disconnected from the systemic exploitation faced by the Filipino people in Mindanao and Luzon.

“The farmers and farmworkers of Negros do not starve because of drought alone, but because of a nationwide feudal system that benefits landlords, such as the family of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson,” Obrero stated.

He added that poor working conditions on the island are not unique local anomalies driven by individual despotic comprador bourgeoisie and landlords, but are the direct result of national economic policies structured to commodify cheap labor for monopoly capital. He asserted that the chains that bind the farmers in Negros are forged in the same imperialist furnaces as those that bind the urban poor in the cities.

Second, the NDF-Negros maintained that the revolutionary movement’s objectives include the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) to address the root causes of the conflict. In contrast, Gov. Bong Lacson and his lackeys pushed for localized talks, aiming for nothing less than the outright capitulation of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

“Capitulation is the dream of the oppressor, not the oppressed,” Obrero said, accusing officials of defining peace merely as “the silence of guns” pointed back at them as the masses’ response to exploitation and oppression. He further explained that the state desires a pacified countryside where foreign corporations can plunder ancestral lands without resistance and landlords can displace farmers with impunity.

The group doubled down on its assertion that the armed conflict is a symptom of a deeper, systemic malady rather than the root problem itself, stating that Negrosanons do not take up arms by choice, but because all peaceful avenues for their legitimate demands have been systematically blocked.

Third, Obrero leveled harsh criticism at the government’s bloated propaganda surrounding its amnesty program and the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP). He challenged the government’s sincerity, asking where this state support was before these individuals felt compelled to join the revolutionary movement. In essence, NDF-Negros argues that pitching welfare programs exclusively to those who surrender treats human rights as rewards for blind obedience rather than fundamental rights.

“The state only pays attention when you become a threat,” Obrero remarked, questioning where the reactionary government was when these individuals were just struggling, landless farmers, underpaid contractual workers, or youth denied access to education.

He underscored that the US-Marcos II administration, much like past regimes, neglects the Filipino people until that very neglect forces them to take up arms, only to then use public funds to bribe them into submission.

The NDF-Negros concluded that any genuine attempt at peace negotiations must be conducted on a national scale, asserting that a nationwide conflict demands a nationwide resolution. To suggest otherwise, they argued, is equivalent to telling a patient suffering from systemic poisoning that they only need to treat the rash on their arm.

Their message remains uncompromising: until the state is ready to talk about land, livelihood, justice, and sovereignty, the revolutionary forces will maintain their stance, and the fire of resistance will continue to burn across the archipelago, undivided.

The post NDF-Negros Lambasts Negros LGU’s Move as ‘Pacification and Division Disguised as Diplomacy’ appeared first on PRWC | Philippine Revolution Web Central.

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