The National Democratic Front's peace negotiating panel during the early rounds of the talks in Oslo, Norway. Photographed by Raymund Villanueva, InterAksyon.
A bilateral cease-fire declaration by the Duterte administration and the communist rebels this year would be a good start to building a solid ground for a long and lasting peace, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said. "Year 2017 will start, we hope, with a good joint declaration."
Both the government and rebel negotiating panels are keen to ink a bilateral cease fire despite hurdles on the issue of the release of more than 400 political prisoners, which President Rodrigo Duterte had in principle promised to do.
But Duterte later choked the throttle after realizing the magnitude of the issue, and vowed to have first a bilateral cease fire signed before making his final move to grant amnesty for all detained communist rebels.
Brig. Gen. Padilla said the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is confident that what had been started last year between the negotiating panels of the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), the negotiating arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA), will continue to prosper this year.
The positive peace outlook had resulted to the declaration unilateral cease fire late last year by the government and communist rebels.
"From the Armed Forces' perspective, we are all supportive of the President's agenda to have a long lasting (peace) and justice with the group (CPP-NPA-NDF) and we are looking forward (to more positive steps this year). The year 2016 was a pioneering year for the resumption (of peace talks). It was a good year for the resumption of the peace talks and hopefully year 2017 will start with a good joint declaration (of a cease fire)," Padilla said.
The CPP-NPA-NDF's 48-year armed struggle is the longest communist rebellion in Asia. This ideology of violent overthrow of the government started during the martial law regime of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
Marcos got his final resting place at the Libingan ng mga Bayani recently after the Supreme Court (SC) junked all the petitions praying to bar the Marcos family to bury the remains of the strongman at the heroes' burial place.
http://interaksyon.com/article/135781/afp-new-years-wish-joint-cease-fire-with-reds
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