Government accuses leftist rebels of designing ‘unending’ peace talks

From the Sun Star (Jun 12): Government accuses leftist rebels of designing ‘unending’ peace talks

THE Aquino administration has realized that the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) has designed the peace process to be protracted while taking advantage of the government.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said that peace negotiations should have a clear agenda for ending violence and bringing peace.

But unfortunately, she said that after 22 difficult years of trying to achieve peace with the communist rebels, talks are again in another prolonged impasse.

"We have realized that the tortuous and protracted pace of the peace talks has been designed by the CPP-NPA-NDF precisely to make the process protracted, and in fact, unending, while, without conceding anything to government, it harvests for itself as many concessions as it can in terms of virtual international recognition and the release of their detained comrades," she said.

Deles stressed the Aquino government's unwavering commitment to pursue peace for the country through negotiations with the Maoist group, but not at the expense of the safety of the people and the sovereignty of the nation.

"The Philippine government has always been open and committed to bring peace to our land, through peace talks with all insurgent groups. Failing that, we shall pursue it through other means that would effectively bring peace to our people, through peaceful means," she said.

The peace adviser added that "this involves peace and development programs guided by a strict regime of respect for human dignity and human rights, even as government defends itself and its citizens from the violence inflicted by armed rebel groups."

The communist rebels in the Cordilleras earlier said that the prospect of signing a peace pact with the Aquino administration was dim as they accused the government of not respecting the agreement on respect for human rights that both parties signed in 1998.

But Deles said it was the NPA, the armed wing of the CPP-NDF, that continued to commit violent actions against civilians.

She cited the recent rebels' ambush-killing of eight off-duty police officers in Alacapan, Cagayan using improvised explosive devices; their massive extortion campaign against political candidates during the last elections; the killing of 27 civilians from La Castellana in Negros in an ambush last January; the attack on the Good Friday procession in Butuan City last March; the ambush of Ruthie Guingona, mayor of Gingoog, Misamis Oriental, that killed two of her bodyguards in April; the grenade attack on a fiesta in Paquibato, Davao City that wounded 50 civilians in September 2012; and the assassination of Vicente Ferrazzini in Davao City in 2005.
Deles reiterated the need for a "new approach" to the peace negotiations to end the 44-year-old communist insurgency in the country.

Under this new approach, she said that the community and other peace stakeholders should play a pivotal role.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2013/06/12/government-accuses-leftist-rebels-designing-unending-peace-talks-287064