Army backs transfer of peace talks venue

From the Visayan Daily  Star (May 2): Army backs transfer of peace talks venue
The call of the Peace Advocates of Negros for the government to transfer the venue of peace talks from Netherlands to the Philippines has found the military and Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army- National Democratic Front on opposite side.

Yesterday, Col. Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said he supported the call of the peace advocates in Negros, while the CPP, in a statement it issued, rejected the localized peace talks, saying that is tantamount to a unilateral termination of negotiations.

The CPP also accused the Aquino government of paving the way for a purely military approach to address the decades-old insurgency.

Even before the new peace approach was adopted by the national government of holding the talks with communist rebels at the local level, local military officials and Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. have repeatedly asked the Komiteng Rehiyonal-Negros (KR-Negros) to accept their offer of localized peace talks.

Priest-turned-rebel Frank Fernandez, secretary of KR-Negros, however, rejected several times the call for local peace talks in Negros, and dismissed it as a publicity stunt and part of the military psychological operations.

Also expressing support to the call of peace advocates, Maj. Rey Tiongson, spokesman of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said that while the talks with the NDFP had bogged down again, they are still hoping that lasting peace will be achieved through talks.

Tiongson said they know that exiled CPP leader Joma Sison and NDF chief Luis Jalandoni will not come to talk peace, so they fully support talks with their local leaders.

In calling for the change of venue, PAN said the negotiation between the Philippine government and the CPP-NPA-NDF leadership in the Netherlands had been an exercise in futility for the past 27 years.

“Continuing aggression even against unarmed civilians confirms that the CPP's intent is bloody revolution, not peace or reform,” they said.

In justifying the transfer of the peace talks to the Philippines, Aying said “One is in the position of strength and other is in the position of terror. Strength can suppress terror”.

“Terror is not acceptable so people will rally against it. Why should strength succumb to terror? Let us wait till the weak one make a deal with the strong one?” Aying asked.

In developing a new approach to peace negotiations with the communist rebels, Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles said the government is undertaking discussions and consultations with civil society groups and various sectors

OPPAP recently conducted consultations in Negros Occidental, that seek to address both those on the peace table and on the ground, especially among the conflict-affected communities, Deles added.

She said the government is already undertaking discussions and consultations in their new approach to negotiations with the communist rebels, that focus on local, instead of national talks.

Jalandoni, however, called the local peace talks “useless and an old and worn-out” approach

At a recent peace dialog in Bacolod City, civil society organizations stressed the need for greater involvement of all sectors in the peace negotiations with the CPP/NPA/NDF.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2013/May/02/topstory7.htm