SOLON SEES MONEY PLAN IN LOCALIZED PEACE TALKS

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Sunday called the government’s proposal for “localized peace talks” with communist insurgents a “moneymaking venture” for local officials and the military.

Zarate made the remark after Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza on Saturday asked the military to return P192.5 million in Disbursement Acceleration Program funds that were released in 2012 for road projects in Maguindanao province that had not been implemented.

“These types of anomalies, along with the collection of bounty for fake surrendere[r]s, would become rampant with the supposed localization of peace talks,” Zarate said in a statement.

Talks with NDFP

He also said negotiations should still be pursued with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), instead of opting for “piecemeal and patchy localized peace talks.”

The Communist Party of the Philippines on Saturday rejected the proposal and said it would be a “waste of money,” because “all revolutionary forces are united under the party’s central leadership and unequivocably support the negotiating panel of the NDFP in its representation of all revolutionary forces in negotiations with the [government].”