PHL govt ends formal peace talks with Communist rebels

Published April 27, 2013 5:40pm

(Updated 6:05 p.m., 28 April 2013) Saying peace talks are "going nowhere," the government said they no longer want to return to formal negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines. “We cannot wait forever for the other side if they continually refuse to go back to the negotiating table without preconditions. The government will be taking a new approach to pursue peace,” said Alexander Padilla, chair of the government panel negotiating with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF). The government said it was open to a renewal of talks but under a different framework. "We need to see sincerity and political will on their part... and an end to the senseless violence they are inflicting on our people especially on innocent civilians," Padilla said.

In an article posted on the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process website, Padilla on Friday said the "new approach" comes amid a 22-month impasse in the negotiations. He also cited the “mounting violence” by the NPA on civilian targets. He did not elaborate what this new approach would be. Earlier this week, 78-year-old Gingoog, Misamis Oriental mayor Ruth Guingona was wounded when her convoy was attacked by the NPA. Two of her bodyguards were killed. The NPA later apologized for the tragedy.

In Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte insisted the government's termination of the talks did not stem from the attack.

“Walang kinalaman ang approach sa naging ambush kay Mayor Guingona,” Valte said on government-run dzRB radio. She added that the Palace will let presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles come up with the details of the “new approach" hinted at by Padilla.

“Tayo ay matagal na handang makipagusap sa CPP-NPA-NDF. Hindi natin alam kung sila handa o gusto makipagusap sa atin,” she added. "Pre-conditions" to formal talks

Padilla explained that while the government had always been open to resume formal negotiations with them, “they keep on insisting on preconditions, such as the release of their detained consultants.”

“The ball is now in their hands, They were the ones who initiated the Special Track and they were the ones who ended it. The government doesn’t want to return to the regular track (formal talks) because it has been going nowhere for the last 27 years,” Padilla said.

Even discussions under the Special Track have been closed since they have come up with new demands, he added.

The OPAPP said CPP founder Jose Maria Sison proposed the special track to fast-track the negotiations, via a draft declaration on “national unity and just peace.”

With the special track, the government and NDF panels met last Dec. 17 and 18 in The Netherlands and agreed to further discuss a draft Declaration of National Unity and Just Peace.

However, when they met again on February 25 and 26, Padilla said the NDF proposed three new documents that he said “backtracked” from their original position and issued more preconditions.

He said the CPP also demanded that the government abolish its peace and development programs, including the controversial Conditional Cash Transfer, PAMANA and Oplan Bayanihan.

Padilla also reiterated the government’s call to the NPA to stop hostilities on the ground following attacks on civilian targets, including that on Mayor Guingona.

“If the NPA understands the true meaning of taking responsibility, it should stop inflicting violence on our society,” Padilla said. Reacting to the NPA statement that it did not intend for the Guingona firefight to happen, Padilla asserted: “What did he expect to happen when 50 armed rebels accost a convoy of a politician in a deserted rural road in the middle of the night? If they did not mean to kill Mayor Guingona, why was her car so mercilessly peppered with bullets and decimated with grenades?" No details yet on 'new approach' to communist insurgency On Sunday Deles said she could not yet provide details on how the government now plans to pursue peace with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF), since her office is still studying the situation. “Wala pang detalye sa ngayon. We need to find a new framework, that is why we are conducting consultations all over the country,” Deles said in a phone interview. She likewise said that her office will update the public if there are any developments from these consultations. – with a report by Andreo Calonzo/VVP/HS/BM, GMA News

Tags: peace, peacetalks