Rurelyn Bay-ao still remembers life in the Haran Bakwit center, where hundreds of families from the indigenous people’s communities across Southern Mindanao were housed, allegedly for their protection against militarization.

This is the Achilles’ heel of the CPP’s analysis: it summarily rejects all forms of peace except its own version of violent upheaval.

BUTUAN CITY—Zulah, a former rebel from Surigao del Sur in Region 13, considers the safe conduct pass (SCP) she now holds in her hands as...