Aquino hopeful of extending truce with Reds

From the Manila Standard Today (Dec 25): Aquino hopeful of extending truce with Reds

THE Aquino administration has expressed optimism that an indefinite ceasefire will soon be forged with the Communist Party of the Philippines, National Democratic Front and New Peoples’ Army. Presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles said there was “so much to be thankful and hopeful for” after both sides agreed on a 27-day Christmas ceasefire, the longest holiday truce so far that began on Dec. 20 and will end on Jan. 15. “Both sides have agreed to continue discussions that will hopefully lead to an extended, indefinite truce,” Deles said. The peace panels of the government and the communists met under a special track of the negotiations facilitated by Norway on Dec. 17 and 18. Government chief negotiator Alexander Padilla said both sides agreed to start talks on the forging of a Common Declaration of National Unity and Just Peace, which upon signing would trigger the immediate implementation of an indefinite truce.

The two panels will meet again early next year to exchange comments on their respective drafts of the common declaration. The issue of prisoner releases, however, was not discussed during the two-day special track. Padilla said that was to avoid any snags in the talks as the issue had caused the negotiations to bog down in the past two years.

Earlier, government peace panel member Jurgette Honculada, in a paper entitled The Emotional Calculus of Conflict, said at least two people died daily in the past three decades as a result of the clashes between government troops and the communist rebels. Honculada said that, from 1978 to 2010, the statistics from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police showed the fatalities had reached 29,553, and of those 13,412 were communist rebels, 8,264 were soldiers and policemen, and 7,877 were civilians. “This translates to two to three deaths daily for the period,” Honculada said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/12/25/aquino-hopeful-of-extending-truce-with-reds/