Palace remains committed to negotiating peace with communist rebels

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 2): Palace remains committed to negotiating peace with communist rebels

Malacanang said the government remains committed to seeking peace with the communist rebels despite their decision to cut short the ceasefire declared for the Christmas and New Year. “We remain committed to pursuing peace in all fronts. We have seen that. We have proven our sincerity with the MILF. We are prepared to seek peace with CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front),” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda told a press briefing in Malacanang Wednesday.

The rebel group cut short its declared ceasefire with the government. Instead of Jan 15, ceasefire ended effectively Wednesday. The communist insurgents declared their traditional Yuletide truce starting from Dec 20, 2012 to Jan 15, 2013. The CPP-NPA-NDF said it had shortened the duration of the ceasefire because President Benigno S. Aquino III failed to issue a reciprocal declaration indicating said ceasefire would end on January 15.

But Lacierda said it wasn’t the case. He noted that in the joint statement where Secretary Ronald Llamas represented the government in Norway it clearly showed that the government had intended to respect the ceasefire. The Armed Forces was informed of the ceasefire so there was no reason for the CPP-NPA-NDF to allege that the government wasn’t sincere in observing the ceasefire, Lacierda said. The non-issuance of a presidential directive did not mean that the government would not honor the ceasefire, Lacierda said. He added the government was committed to the ceasefire and that was the reason why Secretary Teresita Deles, the President’s peace adviser, was very optimistic in her statement about peace with the rebels.

“The one proof that we were cognizant of that ceasefire is that we published it on the www.gov.ph., our official website. When we learned about the ceasefire, we immediately relayed it to the AFP, we relayed it to media and we relayed it to the public. That is the extent of our sincerity. We had no reason not to honor the ceasefire,” he said. “We knew that the ceasefire would be good for the rebels because it would be an opportunity for the CPP-NPA-NDF rebels to come down from the mountains to be with their families. By ending the ceasefire earlier, they have cut short the time the rebels can spend with their families. It is unfortunate,” he added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=483981