Philippines respects US move to keep leftist rebel group on terror list

From the Global Times (Jun 5): Philippines respects US move to keep leftist rebel group on terror list

The Philippine government said Wednesday that it respects the US decision to continue to include the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army ( CPP-NPA) on its list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTO).

In a news briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that it is not for the Philippines to say whether it agrees or not on the leftist rebels' inclusion on the US State Department's list.

"That's their (decision), that's how they would like to classify the CPP-NPA," he said.

In its latest Country Report on Terrorism released recently, the United States continued to include the CPP-NPA on the list of FTO. The CPP-NPA has been on the list since August 9, 2002.

Aside from the leftist rebels, another Filipino group, the Abu Sayyaf, also remained on the list. It was included in the FTO since October 8, 1997.

"FTO designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business," the State Department said.

The Aquino government tried to revive the peace process with the CPP-NPA through its political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF). But only one formal negotiation and two informal talks through a special track took place during the past three years of the Aquino administration until the peace process collapsed in February this year.

The Philippine government is now looking for a "new approach" on how to end the more than four decades' leftist insurgency.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/787011.shtml#.Ua_T047D9jo