DND chief confident GPH-NDF bilateral ceasefire to be signed in Rome next week

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 13): DND chief confident GPH-NDF bilateral ceasefire to be signed in Rome next week

Despite the complexities in the ongoing peace negotiations between the government and communist rebels, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana expressed confidence a bilateral ceasefire will be signed during the talks in Rome, Italy next week.

The DND chief added some of his people and those from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Gen. Eduardo Año met with Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza at the OPAPP headquarters in Pasig City, on what inputs they want to be placed in the agreement.

"What they are going to accomplish in Rome is to discuss the terms of a bilateral ceasefire agreement. That's why some of my people at DND went to OPAPP. Gen. Año met with Sec. Dureza at OPAPP because they asked us what inputs do we want to be place into this agreement," Lorenzana said.

The DND chief did not give details on the inputs pending the results of the talks.
Peace negotiations in Rome will take place Jan. 18 to 25.

"So we have inputs there especially some of the gripes of the AFP and we are trying to discuss this, it's just a discussion. We're not saying that there will already be a signing because the process will take a bit longer than we hope it will be, there's a lot of nitty-gritty there."

Lorenzana is hopeful that the peace panels will able to come up with a bilateral agreement so that peace and development will come to the countryside.

He added a unilateral ceasefire is useless as the other side will continue to make trouble or atrocities especially in Mindanao.

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