The late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was noted for his self-deprecating humor. Experts have credited him with coining the term “dontopedalogy,” which he described as the art of putting one’s foot in one’s mouth. National security adviser Eduardo Año is the latest practitioner of this art.
He claims the peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) cannot proceed as the NDF and the revolutionary movement disagree on the matter of renouncing armed struggle. On Aug. 18, 2024, he ruled out formal peace negotiations with the NDF since the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA), and organizations belonging to the NDF disagree on the issue of renouncing armed struggle.
“There are objections and resistance from the local level. That’s what is needed to be resolved by the other side. While they can’t resolve their disagreement over whether or not to renounce the armed struggle, nothing will come out of any talks just like in previous negotiations,” Año, who also chairs the National Security Council (NSC), declared. “Why would we start discussions when the other side can’t even agree amongst themselves?”
Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. squelched the ugly talk 15 days later, telling journalists at a Palace press briefing that exploratory talks with the NDF were ongoing. Año’s dontopedalogy was noticed by the NDF negotiating panel, with chairperson Julie de Lima and others saying talk about “disagreements” within the revolutionary movement proffered by Año are one card short of a full deck. It is not an intelligent intrigue. The NDF is committed to the resumption of formal peace talks and urged the top government officials to resolve their contradictory views on the negotiations.
“Ongoing pa rin iyong ating exploratory talks at nakikita po natin na iyong last November nagkaroon tayo ng final, iyong tinatawag nating mission statement,” Galvez said. “We have three processes in our negotiation. Number one is getting the vision statement, then having the framework agreement, and the final peace agreement,” Galvez explained, adding President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is “very committed to finishing all the peace agreements and implementing them during his term.”
On Sept. 4, de Lima said the NDF “observed with concern” the mixed and contradictory signals from the GRP. “On the one hand, Año stated that peace talks are unlikely to proceed. On the other hand, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said they are optimistic that the talks would resume,” de Lima said. De Lima argued that it would be hard to talk peace with the GRP when its top officials continue to tag NDF negotiators like Luis Jalandoni and Ma. Elizabeth P. Principe as “terrorists” and put roadblocks on the road to formal peace negotiations. Principe was acquitted in all the four criminal cases lodged against her but the harassment continues.
The NDF warned that Año has long tried to derail comprehensive peace negotiations and his latest shtick is that the impending talks are “new” and must not abide by previously signed agreements. It added that “he also immediately disputed the measures that would facilitate the reopening of the negotiations such as the release of NDF consultants and other political detainees and the removal of the ‘terrorist’ designation on Louie Jalandoni.” Año bragged that military operations and the covert surveillance by NTF-ELCAC will continue. This is characteristic of Año, who was also linked to the abduction of Jonas Burgos on April 28, 2007 and the covert intelligence operations hatched by convicted Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan.
Año has a huge budget for the NTF-ELCAC, which he chairs, and he supervises the campaign to involve all civilian agencies in the covert operation of his red-tagging and bloody machinery. For 2025, the NTF-ELCAC’s budget for the Barangay Development Fund (BDF) zoomed to P7.8 billion from only P2.1 billion this year, a monstrously humongous leap of 371% as the health sector suffered big budget cuts. The BDF duplicates projects completed by LGUs and other agencies in towns and cities to “develop communities” and inoculate them from the “insidious” effects of the influence of revolutionary forces. Simply put, the BDF is the pork barrel of generals.
