Padilla: CPP-NPA never abandoned armed struggle

From ABS-CBN (Jun 21): Padilla: CPP-NPA never abandoned armed struggle

Government peace negotiator Alex Padilla expressed dismay over stalled peace talks between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army and National Democratic Front.

Speaking to ANC, Padilla said the communist leaders never abandoned their pursuit of armed struggle to overthrow the government all throughout the talks.

He said the CPP talks are different from the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which had led to a framework agreement.

"Ang primary call naman namin sa kanila is that let's have an indefinite ceasefire while we're talking and that's not unreasonable. We have an example with that with the MILF. They kept their arms while they were talking pero ang difference is that there was a recognition by the MILF that peace talks were the primary mode of settling the matter," he said in the interview.

"Unfortunately, the CPP-NPA-NDF have also been very, very clear that they are only using the peace negotiations to attain their end of an armed struggle in order to overthrow government."

Padilla is in a transition period from being peace negotiator to his new post as president and chief executive officer of Philhealth.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/06/21/13/padilla-cpp-npa-never-abandoned-armed-struggle