Gov’t defers talks with Reds
The government has decided to defer the planned resumption of peace talks with the communist rebel group until public consultations on the initiative are conducted.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said President Duterte wanted to “reset” the peace talks with the communists and ordered the government peace panel to engage the public and obtain their support and understanding first.
The postponement of the revival of the peace nego-
tiations was reached during the President's meeting with top security and peace officials in Malacañang last Wednesday.
Duterte, who has given a 60-day window for the two sides to hammer out a peace deal, had earlier said he was eyeing the resumption of the talks in July. The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPANDF), on the other hand, reportedly agreed to return to the negotiating table later this month.
“In our common effort to make sure that we achieve a conducive and enabling environment for peace, President Rodrigo Duterte instructed us last (Wednesday) night to engage our bigger ‘peace table’ – the general public as well as other sectors in government as we work to negotiate peace with the communist rebels,” Dureza said during a Palace press briefing.
“Consequently, the initial timeline that our backchannel team had worked on with their counterparts (CPP/NPA/NDF) ‘across the table’ had to be necessarily re-adjusted,” he said.
“In other words, the scheduled supposed resumption of talks that have been earlier subject to discussions by our backchannel will not happen as originally set and announced in the media,” he said.
Dureza did not give any new date on the possible resumption of the peace talks.
He explained that the President did not want to rush the peace talks to avoid the “same pitfalls of the past.” He said they wanted to ensure any peace agreement with the communist would be “implementable.”
He also said it was necessary to inform and engage the public about the peace initiative with the communists in the same way as the government consulted with various stakeholders about the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
“The President said, ‘Let's reset, give us time to work some more so that whatever agreement will be signed eventually will be implementable,’” he said.
“Even if we sign agreements nga at hindi suportado ng publiko, walang mangyayari din [Even if we sign agreements and are not supported by the public, nothing will happen],” he said.
Just, sustainable and lasting peace would happen “only when our people understand and support these efforts,” Dureza said.
Dureza said the nearly 50 years of on-and-off talks with the rebels need a “close study for lessons to learn from to insure that our ‘last chance’ to put a dignified closure to the armed rebellion will not be squandered away.”
“The government peace panel, in cooperation with the private sector, will continue on its efforts to ‘engage’ those who earnestly seek peace,” he said.
“But it is equally important that the stakeholders on the ground must also be equally engaged through consultations to ensure that all those consensus points and agreements forged in the negotiations table have palpable support from them,” he said.