The government is bringing the stalled
peace talks with communist rebels, through the National Democratic Front, back
to the public.
Peace panel members have begun consulting
various stakeholders for guidance on how it should proceed with the talks,
according to Undersecretary Maria Cleofe Gettie Sandoval, of the Office of the
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp), on Friday.
The government panel is scheduled to meet
with various groups that are clamoring for a peace settlement with communist
rebels, to explain the status of the talks which have been stalled for 22 months
now, she said.
Early in May, the talks triggered an angry
exchange of words between Malacañang and the NDF when Palace spokesperson Edwin
Lacierda announced that the NDF panel had “killed” a special track for
negotiations which it had proposed to restore formal peace talks.
The Aquino administration said it is
seeking another approach to reopen talks with communist rebels, but NDF chief
negotiator Luis Jalandoni complained that the talks have not even been
terminated.
Negotiations with the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, on the other hand, would resume soon, now that elections have
ended, Sandoval said.
She said the MILF talks would proceed with
the settlement of three remaining talking points on Mindanao normalization,
economic and power sharing as it prepares for a peace transition.
The Opapp official discussed the NDF and
the MNLF on the sidelines of a ceremony that secured the commitment of five
nongovernment organizations tasked with monitoring the progress of projects for
the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA).
The CPLA was the first group to open peace
talks with then President Corazon Aquino after the 1986 Edsa Revolt, and her
son, President Aquino, concluded the process in July 2011 with a closure
agreement that prescribed 81 social projects for upland communities in exchange
for the militia’s disarmament.
The Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good
Governance (CCAGG), the People’s Organization for Social Transformation and
Development Network in Apayao, the Philippine Association of Social Workers Inc.
in Ifugao, the International Association for Transformation in Kalinga and the
Ebgan Inc. in Mt. Province will monitor and determine whether these projects
have led to peace in communities where CPLA influence is strong.
The CPLA closure agreement also allowed
CPLA to convert itself into a socioeconomic organization and to absorb 168
qualified militiamen into the military.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/414785/govt-sets-new-tack-on-talks-with-communist-rebels
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