NDF calls former GRP chief negotiator Padilla the ‘biggest failure’

The National Democratic Front slammed former government chief negotiator Alex Padilla on Tuesday and called him the "biggest failure in the history" of the peace talks with the communist rebels.

"During his stint as head of the GRP negotiating panel, the talks did not progress even an inch," the NDF said in a statement. "He wanted to move it backward in negating what had already been achieved by trying to tear apart all the important agreements already signed."

Padilla, the GRP chief negotiator with the Communist Party of the Philippines under the Aquino administration, had said on Monday that the peace talks with the NDF would fail under its present course.

The NDF criticized Padilla for attacking The Hague Joint Declaration which stated that "the holding of peace negotiations must be in accordance with mutually acceptable principles, including national sovereignty, democracy and social justice."

"He did not agree with the principle of mutuality and reciprocity because he wanted to impose the authority of the GRP over the NDFP and the revolutionary movement," the NDF said. "He wanted the NDFP to surrender even without having come to agreement on the necessary reforms."

The NDF also claimed that Padilla had implied that there was no longer a need to discuss the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms since the GRP had implemented socio-economic programs.

"That is why under his watch as head of the GRP negotiating panel, the talks could not proceed on CASER, which even the GRP panel under Silvestre Bello acknowledges as the 'heart and soul' of the peace negotiations," the NDF said.

Padilla was also "trying hard to be a spoiler" in the peace talks, which is on its fourth round in The Netherlands, by alleging that NDF leaders engaged in the negotiations did not represent the communist rebels.

The NDF added Padilla "also implies that President Duterte and the rest of the GRP panel are stupid for talking to these leaders."

The GRP and the NDF peace panels are expected to discuss a bilateral ceasefire agreement and socio-economic reforms during the peace talks. — Joseph Tristan Roxas/DVM, GMA News