Bello: Peace talks with Reds still ‘alive’
Peace talks between the government and the communist group are still “alive” since no formal termination of the negotiations has been made, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Thursday.
Bello, chief government peace negotiator, made the clarification following President Duterte’s recent pronouncement that he was not interested in resuming talks with the communists.
“When the President came in as our President, he made a very clear statement that his legacy to our country and our countrymen is a lasting peace for our country so, I don’t think that – that the President has abandoned that legacy,” Bello said during a Palace press briefing.
“The talks are alive and we are just waiting for the President to give us the instruction to go back to the peace table,” he added.
At present, Bello clarified that they have not sent any formal notice on the cancellation of the peace talks.
He said when the President mentioned about not talking to the rebels, he was referring to the two cancelled talks that were supposed to be held last June and July.
He said these were the cancellation of the fifth round of peace talks last June 21 as well as the back channel talks last July 19.
“But that did not mean that the talks were cancelled or terminated,” he said.
“We have been consistently saying that in order to terminate the talks, either of the parties have to serve the party with a written notice of termination. And the termination takes effect 30 days after receipt of that notice of termination,” he added.
Earlier this month, the President said it would “not be good for the country” if the government resumes peace negotiations with the communist rebels at the moment.
The President has remained hesitant to revive the stalled peace talks with the communists following their deadly attacks on government troops, and even passed the buck to the country’s next leader.