Reds ask Duterte to drop 'untenable' demands, focus on roots of conflict

From ABS-CBN (Oct 25): Reds ask Duterte to drop 'untenable' demands, focus on roots of conflict

The senior peace adviser to the National Democratic Front peace panel urged President Rodrigo Duterte Tuesday night to drop “untenable” conditions for the resumption of peace talks.

"The NDF is willing to resume peace talks with any regime that seriously wants to resolve the roots of armed conflict," Luis Jalandoni told ABS-CBN News.

"We have been informed of the possibilities, but have been told that it’s better to be quiet (on the details) for now," the retired rebel peace panel chair said on the sidelines of a solidarity night for farmers at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

Last October 20, President Duterte hinted he is exploring the possible resumption of talks after months of threatening rebels and their supporters and accusing the militant Left of joining a conspiracy to unseat him from power.

• Duterte may resume talks with Reds

But the President insists on a ceasefire between the Armed Forces and the New People's Army (NPA) as negotiators hammer out an agreement on social and economic reforms.

"It’s not tenable," Jalandoni warned.

“It’s clear to Duterte and to his advisers, and to (Labor Secretary and peace panel member Silvestre) Bello and the others. There cannot be such a thing as surrender, or a prolonged ceasefire without substantial inroads on basic social and economic issues. The NDF will never agree."

Jalandoni stressed the NPA will not give up its arms.

The armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), he added, will assert the right to protect its territories and surrounding communities from attacks by state forces.

CLASHES AFTER MARTIAL LAW

The government cancelled the fifth round of talks in May as rebels stepped up offensives with the declaration of Mindanao-wide martial law.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) issued the order after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana included Asia's oldest leftist insurgency as a target of martial law.
Read: NDF negotiators ask CPP to reconsider order to intensify offensives

In July, Duterte warned he would abandon peace talks after a new spate of NPA actions and an exchange of rants with CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison. The President ordered around 20 NDF consultants released from detention for the talks to surrender or face arrest.

Since then clashes have erupted around the country, killing fighters from both sides, as well as civilians.

Thousands have also evacuated their homes due to military aerial bombardment.

In August, Duterte said any resumption of talks as a “waste of money.”

The President later warned that he was near to signing a formal termination notice, a required step in the conduct of negotiations

Last week, however, Duterte acknowledged that talking to the New People’s Army (NPA) could help ease the country’s problems.

The President’s statement came a day after he met Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza and GRP chief negotiator the NDF Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. Both have refused to elaborate on Duterte’s remarks.

Jalandoni said the President's change of heart could be linked to a series of national surveys showing grave concern over the killings in the drug war, a decline in the economy and discontent among the country's poorest sectors.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/25/17/reds-ask-duterte-to-drop-untenable-demands-focus-on-roots-of-conflict