Gov’t chief peace negotiator gives up on talks with Reds – report

MANILA, Philippines - The government’s chief peace negotiator with  communist rebels has apparently given up hope on resuming the peace talks, saying negotiations are “going nowhere.”

In a report posted on GMA-7 online news, government chief peace negotiator Alexander Padilla was quoted as saying the government “no longer wants to return to formal negotiations” with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front (CPP/NDF), owing to the “impossible conditions” set by the communists before negotiations could resume.

“We cannot wait forever for the other side if they continually refuse to go back to the negotiating table without preconditions. The government will be taking a new approach to pursue peace,” Padilla said, without elaborating.

According to the report, Padilla’s article was posted on the website of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), which is headed by Secretary Teresita Deles.

The OPAPP article reported there has been a 22-month impasse in the negotiations.

Padilla maintained though that they are still open to a renewal of talks but under a different framework.

“We need to see sincerity and political will on their part... and an end to the senseless violence they are inflicting on our people, especially on innocent civilians,” Padilla was quoted as saying.

Last week, communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels ambushed the convoy of Gingoog Mayor Ruth Guingona, the wife of former vice president Teofisto Guingona Jr., wounding her but killing two civilians.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government’s termination of the talks did not stem from the attack. 

“It has nothing to do with the ambush on Mayor Guingona,” she said, adding Malacañang would allow Deles come up with the details of the “new approach” hinted at by Padilla. 

“We have long been ready to talk peace with the CPP-NPA-NDF. We just don’t know if they are ready or if they don’t want to talk to us,” she said.

Padilla earlier revealed the Aquino administration’s “new approach” to peacefully resolve the armed conflict with the communist rebels and break the 22-month-old stalemate on the peace negotiations.

Padilla explained that while the government had always been open to resume formal negotiations with the rebels, “they keep insisting on preconditions, such as the release of their detained consultants.”

“The ball is now in their hands. They were the ones who initiated the special track and they were the ones who ended it. The government doesn’t want to return to the regular track (formal talks) because it has been going nowhere for the last 27 years,” he said.

Even discussions under the special track have been closed since they have come up with new demands, he added.

CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison proposed a “special track” to speed up the negotiations through an agreement on a Draft Declaration on National Unity and Just Peace that would lead to an immediate ceasefire and creation of a Committee for National Unity, Peace and Development.