GOVT: INFORMAL TALKS WITH REDS TO PROCEED
Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza said “informal talks” will continue despite the cancellation of the 5th round of peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front (NDF).
“We will continue engaging with the stakeholders,” Dureza said in a press briefing Sunday, 9 p.m. Dutch time (around 3 a.m. Philippine time), in The Netherlands.
He stressed that the government is “not terminating the peace process.”
“The decision is not to participate (in the 5th round of talks). We will see how this will impact on the whole gamut of the peace process,” Dureza said.
He said the order to withdraw from the May 27 talks came directly from President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Any decision we make here is, of course, vetted with the President,” he added.
Dureza announced Saturday the government’s decision not to participate in the 5th round of talks with the NDF, political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
He said the government peace panel will not participate in the negotiations until “there are clear indications that an enabling environment conducive to achieving just and sustainable peace in the land through peace negotiations across this table shall prevail.”
He listed “blatant and serious challenges” being posed by the communist rebels to the Duterte government, such as: the noticeable upscale of incidents of offensive attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA), armed wing of the communists, throughout the country; public admission of some panel members of the CPP-NPANDF leaders that they have no control over their forces in the ground; clamor for localized peace talks; and Duterte’s statement that he will no longer sign agreements with the CPP-NPA-NDF if all of these will not be addressed.
The CPP’s directive to its armed wing to intensify offensives after Duterte declared martial law for 60 days in Mindanao is perceived to be in “open and public defiance” of the President, Dureza said.
Duterte placed Mindanao under martial rule on May 23 after clashes between government troops and Muslim militants erupted in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. The battle for control of Marawi is entering its second week.
The CPP, in a statement posted on its website philippinerevolution.info, said the government negotiating panel imposed “unnecessary, last-minute and unacceptable preconditions for talks to proceed.”
The rebels cited two key demands by the government: that NDF sign a bilateral ceasefire agreement prior to negotiations on any other substantive agreement; and CPP recall its directive to carry out more tactical offensives in the face of martial law in Mindanao.
“The talks could have been an opportunity to attain substantial progress in discussing and forging the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER),” the CPP statement added.