Malacanang said it remains open to negotiating peace with the communist rebels despite the lull in the talks and continuing violence on the ground in the past several months.
In a press briefing in the Malalacang on Tuesday, Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Aquino administration will always be ready to talk peace with the communists as long as there are no preconditions set to restart the discussions.
“We’ve always manifested our intent to keep talking to them but, even from the beginning, we have said that there should be no preconditions; we all come to the table with good intentions and with good faith,” Valte told reporters.
“Down the line, we have seen incidents that would cast doubt on those intentions, at least coming from the other side. But at this point, as Alex Padilla said, the government is still open to talking to them,” she said.
Padilla, the government’s chief negotiator with the rebels, resigned as both sides have not conducted formal talks in the last two years.
As the Aquino government has not wavered on talking peace with the communists, Valte said the major issue is sincerity of both sides.
She said the communists have not shown its sincerity as manifested by recent events on the ground such as the attacks conducted by the New People’s Army (NPA) and the kidnapping of five soldiers in
“There are several incidents that would indicate a sincerity problem when it comes to the talks, at least on their side,” Valte said.
One of the stumbling blocks for the talks include the demand of the communist insurgents to free political prisoners detained in government prisons saying some of them serve as consultants for the talks for the rebel side.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=537887
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