Gov't cancels NPA talks
The government yesterday announced that it is canceling the 5th round of peace talks with the communist movement, according to a GMA News report.
In a statement, presidential peace adviser Secretary Jesus Dureza cited attacks by the New People's Army (NPA) and the recent order of the Communist Party Philippines (CPP) to its ground forces to intensify its offensive amid President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of martial law in Mindanao.
"The most serious development of late and which puts in great jeopardy as to whether or not we can still keep the court of peace in this peace table is the blatant publicly announced decision of the CCP, the political organ of our counterparts across the table who are here, ordering their forces on the ground to accelerate and intensify attacks against the government in the face of the declaration of martial law in Mindanao ..." Dureza said in the statement read during the opening of the 5th round of talks in The Netherlands.
He said that, because of the latest order of the CPP and attacks by the NPA, the government's peace panel "will not proceed to participate in the scheduled 5th round of peace negotiations until such time as 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."
In a press conference, National Democratic Front negotiating panel senior adviser Luis Jalandoni said the cancellation of the 5th round "gives the indication that they don't want to go into negotiations to discuss about CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law) agreement, human rights ... international humanitarian law."
"They have to do something to take responsibility for it and they have to take responsibility for stopping these or CASER (Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms)," Jalandoni added.