No official word yet from the President on peace talks with the NDF

From the Business World (Dec 29): No official word yet from the President on peace talks with the NDF

PRESIDENT Benigno S. C. Aquino III has yet to make an announcement regarding whether the government is open to resuming peace talks with the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), Malacañang said on Monday.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin S. Lacierda made these remarks after Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Q. Deles raised the possibility of opening the talks with the NDF.

“Just to be clear, there is still no official word from the President regarding the possibility of resuming talks or a one-on-one meeting with Mr. Jose Ma. Sison,” Mr. Lacierda told reporters in a briefing Monday.

The Palace official noted the government has yet to ascertain the possibility of resuming the peace talks after several attempts in the past did not prosper.

"We have no information yet as to the statement of Mr. Sison. Any announcement that will be forthcoming from the Palace will bear the mark of an official announcement. Right now, we have no information to that effect. So, let's see first if we can resume the talks and then let's make sure the talks are doable and time-bound before we discuss anything else," he added.

"Number one, we need to make sure that again... previously we have several experiences with CPP-NPA-NDF. We had a formal track and the informal track. Both didn't seem to move forward."

News reports earlier quoted Mr. Sison, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder currently in political asylum in the Netherlands, as saying the CPP is open to resuming peace negotiations with the government, adding that the on-and-off peace talks between the government and the NDFP may start again after Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines in January.

While remaining pragmatic about the possibility of the two parties reaching a final peace agreement before the President bows out of office in 2016, Mr. Sison had said the two parties could reach agreements on social and economic front, including a possible ceasefire.

Earlier, Secretary Deles has said there is possibility of the government returning to the peace negotiating table with the NDF, composed of the CCP and its armed group the New People's Army (NPA).

Ms. Deles said "feedback has been positive" on the possible resumption of the talks, "but there remain matters to be clarified in order to ensure that, if ever we do resume talks, it will not go the same way of an early, major impasse that has happened too often in the past."

"As we have repeatedly stated since the special negotiations track broke down in February, 2013, we want to resume talks on the basis of a doable and time-bound agenda," she said, adding that Mr. Sison's "very positive remarks indicate that common ground between the two parties may indeed be broadening toward the achievement of a just and durable peace."

Informal talks on the resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the communist rebels are ongoing, although "there have been no meetings between the Philippine government and NDF to discuss the possible resumption of talks."

"It is true, however, that friends of the process have been shuttling between the two parties to explore possible parameters for restarting talks at the earliest time possible," she added.

In its 46^th founding anniversary statement on Dec. 26, the CPP, however, expressed doubt about the peace talks, saying the negotiations are not likely to yield results that will address the country's problems, even accusing the government of using the peace negotiations "to pacify the revolutionary forces."

"There should be no illusion that the ongoing peace negotiations with the reactionary government will soon lead to comprehensive agreements on social, economic, and political problems as basis for a just and lasting peace," it said.

Meanwhile, the Palace official said the government will not allow any "preconditions" for the resumption of peace talks with the NDF.

"Our emphasis has been always walang preconditions when it comes to talks. We have said that before. We've always said that when it comes to talks with another party, there are no preconditions. This is something that we have said time and time again," Mr. Lacierda said.

He also said the Tiamzons are facing multiple charges before the Quezon City regional trial court including kidnapping and serious illegal detention. The Tiamzons, who have supposedly taken over the leadership of the CPP, were arrested in Cebu last March.

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=no-official-word-yet-from-the-president-on-peace-talks-with-the-ndf&id=100181