Troops told to pursue talks with communist rebels

MANILA, Philippines - Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin is encouraging military field units to hold localized negotiations with rebels as the peace talks between the national government and the communists remain stalled.

Gazmin said such move could help the military officials attain peace in their respective areas.

“We encourage the military (to hold localized talks) so that there will be peace in their areas of responsibility,” the defense chief said in a press conference Monday.

“If you are going to wait (for the impasse in the national level to be resolved), it will take long before the instruction is relayed (to the ground),” he added.

Gazmin said the supposed differences between the communist leaders in Netherlands and local commanders also delay the relaying of policies in the field.

“If you are a commander and you want peace, you should talk to them (rebels),” he said.

Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Gazmin believes that the communist leaders negotiating with the government do not feel the sentiments of those in the farms or those struggling in the mountains.

 

“Some of them (rebels) are tired (of fighting) and they can see the benefits of peace,” he said.

The peace talks between the government and the communists hit an impasse due to differences over jailed insurgents facing criminal cases.

The National Democratic Front (NDF), which represents the rebels in the talks, insists that its jailed leaders be freed since they are covered by immunity guarantees.

The government, however, refused to do so, saying the NDF has no means to prove that the jailed rebels are indeed peace consultants who should be immune from arrests.

Last week, government chief negotiator Alexander Padilla said they are considering a “new approach” to peacefully resolve the conflict with the communists.

Some sectors believe Padilla practically gave up on the peace talks with the NDF when he made the statement.

“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,” Padilla said in a statement.

“We have always been open to resume formal negotiations with them, but they keep on insisting on preconditions, such as the release of their detained consultants,” he added.

Padilla said the communists had also demanded that the government abolish its peace and development programs like the conditional cash transfer and Pamana, which aims to promote prosperity in conflict areas.

“These demands are just preposterous. We don’t want to engage in a negotiation where the other party is clearly fooling us,” Padilla said.

Despite the impasse, Gazmin said they still prefer peaceful means to resolve the conflict with the communists.

“We are all Filipinos and it’s about time we sit down and talk so that we save more lives,” he said. – Alexis Romero with C. M.

(philstar.com)