Hostage-taking imperils peace talks with Reds

DAVAO CITY — There will be no suspension of military operations (SOMO) and the peace negotiations will resume only after the New People’s Army (NPA) releases a Marine sergeant and three militiamen it has held captive in Sultan Kudarat.

Former Justice Secretary Silvestre Bello III, the govern—ment’s chief negotiator with the communists, said Mrs. Arroyo has issued these specific instructions.

NPA rebels snatched Marine Sgt. Jeremiah Rosete and militiamen Wilfredo Maldiser, Herminio Sorongon and Pepito Simbulan in Barangay Datal Blao in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat on Sept. 4 last year.

The four captives are believed being held in the mountains of Sultan Kudarat.

The National Democratic Front (NDF), according to Bello, has demanded that the government declare a one-month SOMO in Davao del Sur, North and South Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat in exchange for its return to the negotiating table.

Bello, however, said the President "has not agreed to it yet and she even demanded that the release of Rosete and the three others should be done soon."

He said the NDF demanded the SOMO during a two-day workshop with the government peace panel last week where they discussed the so-called "roadmap" of the peace process.

Meanwhile, Bello expressed fears that the peace negotiations might collapse because of the ongoing "Balikatan" joint military exercises of Filipino and American troops in Basilan and Zamboanga City.

"I may be a bit paranoid. But the panel is expecting a worst case scenario that the NDF will pull out from the peace talks because of the joint military exercises as it did in May 1999 when the Senate ratified the Visiting Forces Agreement," he said.

Bello said the NDF leaders might announce their pullout from the talks on March 29, the anniversary of the peace negotiations.

"But I am not saying it will happen exactly as that. It is just that I have also become a bit paranoid," he said.

Bello said he has emphasized to the military, through Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, to continue with their operations against the NPA rebels.

"The military provides the military solution, while the peace panel provides the political solution," he said.