Malacañang on Saturday maintained the government is open to peace talks with communist rebels, but will continue to protect citizens from the rebels' attacks.
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the peace talks could not push through since the rebels had been making difficult demands.
"Insofar as pursuing peace negotiations, we've always been open. This has been our statement for so long, pero may hinihingi silang condition na we cannot comply with because these were conditions which they themselves created (We've always been open but they have been seeking conditions we cannot comply with because these are conditions they themselves created)," Lacierda said on state-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.
He cited the demand of the rebels to confirm the list of peace consultants covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).
But he said the supposed list was in a floppy disk whose contents cannot be accessed.
In the meantime, he said that while the talks have yet to resume, the Armed Forces of the
"Habang ayaw nilang lumapit sa negotiating table, may obligasyon ang estado, ang AFP, na ipagtanggol ang ating kababayan. The mandate of the AFP is to protect and defend our countrymen so yan pa rin ang ating gagawin (So long as the rebels don't want to return to the negotiating table, the state, through the AFP, has an obligation to defend our citizens. The mandate of the AFP is to protect and defend our countrymen so it will continue doing that)," he said.
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