Saying the peace talks have been stalled because of various “demands,” the Aquino administration is eyeing a new approach to peace efforts other than formal negotiations.
Government peace panel chairman Alexander Padilla said they no longer want to return to the formal talks, which he said had been “going nowhere for the last 27 years.”
“The ball is now in their hands, They were the ones who initiated the Special Track and they were the ones who ended it. The government doesn’t want to return to the regular track (formal talks) because it has been going nowhere for the last 27 years,” Padilla said in an article posted on the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process website.
In Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Palace will let presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles come up with the details of the “new approach.”
However, Valte also insisted the new approach did not stem from the attack by New People’s Army rebels on a convoy of Gingoog City Mayor Ruthie Guingona last week.
Mayor Guingona, mother of administration senator Teofisto Guingona III, was injured in the attack while two of her aides were killed.
“Walang kinalaman ang approach sa naging ambush kay Mayor Guingona,” Valte said on government-run dzRB radio.
“Tayo ay matagal na handang makipagusap sa CPP-NPA-NDF. Hindi natin alam kung sila handa o gusto makipagusap sa atin,” she added.
22-month impasse
Padilla on Friday said the new approach comes amid a 22-month impasse in the negotiations. He also cited the “mounting violence” by the NPA on civilian targets.
“We cannot wait forever for the other side if they continually refuse to go back to the negotiating table without preconditions. The government will be taking a new approach to pursue peace,” he said.
He added that while the government had always been open to resume formal negotiations with them, “they keep on insisting on preconditions, such as the release of their detained consultants.”
Even discussions under the Special Track have been closed since they have come up with new demands, he added.
The OPAPP said CPP founder Jose Maria Sison proposed the special track to fast-track the negotiations, via a draft declaration on “national unity and just peace.”
With the special track, the government and NDF panels met last Dec. 17 and 18 in The Netherlands and agreed to discuss further a draft Declaration of National Unity and Just Peace.
However, when they met again Feb. 25 and 26, Padilla said the NDF proposed three new documents that he said “backtracked” from their original position and issued more preconditions.
He said the CPP also demanded that the government abolish its peace and development programs, including the controversial Conditional Cash Transfer, PAMANA and Oplan Bayanihan.
Padilla also reiterated the government’s call to the NPA to stop hostilities on the ground following attacks on civilian targets, including that on Mayor Guingona.
“If the NPA understands the true meaning of taking responsibility, it should stop inflicting violence on our society,” Padilla said. - VVP, GMA News
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