MANILA, Philippines?Retired Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. is transforming himself from warrior to peacemaker and is getting brickbats.

A week after his retirement as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Esperon was named President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s adviser on the peace process, outgoing Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye announced Sunday.

Esperon, 56, will replace Jesus Dureza, 60, a former congressman who has been chosen to replace Bunye as press secretary when Bunye goes to the Monetary Board.

The announcement on Sunday completes the Cabinet revamp, although Bunye said Ms Arroyo was expected to release appointments to ?high-profile positions? involving development programs.

Speaking to the Philippine Daily Inquirer from Japan where he and his family were visiting, Esperon said his new job came as he was set to see ?peace memorials? in Hiroshima. He will also visit monuments to peace in his coming trip to Korea.

His trip to Japan, primarily to visit his daughter who is studying for a doctorate there, and Korea had been set even before Ms Arroyo extended in February his tenure as AFP chief of staff for another three months, according to Esperon.

Esperon said his new job fit in with his desire after his retirement to work in the Arroyo administration ?in areas of peace, security and development.?

?It?s a position of high responsibility and it?s a very important aspect in the life of the nation,? he said. The challenge of the job was ?in itself an inspiration,? he added.

?I have very strong political beliefs in the peace process but that has to be subjugated to the national interest,? said Esperon, who, as chief of staff, had been ordered by Ms Arroyo to wipe out the communist insurgency before she steps down in 2010.

?Some say that making war could be easier than winning the peace. My new job as peacemaker is a job that I could put my heart into,? he said.

Talks with MILF, rightists

Esperon recalled that when the government was waging war with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the 1990s, he would meet the rebels in field encounters ?but in the end, we embraced each other in peace.?

He said he would cut his vacation short and be back in Manila before the end of the month ?to prepare for the job.?

In a radio interview, Esperon said his new assignment included talking peace not only with the communist National Democratic Front (NDF) but also with the MILF and ?probably with rightist groups.?

?A wolf in a hen house?

Asked if he would be willing to negotiate with rebel soldiers led by incarcerated Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Marine Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, Esperon said he still had to discuss this with Ms Arroyo.

Opposition Sen. Jamby Madrigal, however, described Ms Arroyo?s move an ?unparalleled hypocrisy,? saying it was like ?appointing Hitler or Stalin to head a peace panel or putting a wolf in a hen house.?

?He (Esperon) is a self-confessed and unrepentant hawk. His appointment makes a mockery of all attempts to forge genuine peace in the country. All serious attempts for peace have been undermined by this dastardly appointment. This is sheer political accommodation,? she said in a text message.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo Sunday said Esperon?s appointment showed Ms Arroyo?s lack of sincerity in pushing for peace with leftist insurgents.

?Esperon is the key implementor of the counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya that UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston says includes as elements extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances,? Ocampo said.

Hardline condition

He said Esperon?s ?hardline condition of a three-year ceasefire before peace talks is guaranteed to negate the small advance? in exploratory talks between the government and the NDF, the umbrella group that includes the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People?s Army.

?They know that the NDF doesn?t want a long ceasefire. If they will insist on something that is unacceptable, then that only shows the government is not sincere in wanting to have peace with the NDF,? Ocampo said.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. described Esperon as ?the antithesis of the peace process? because of the surge in political killings under his watch at the AFP.

The human rights group Karapatan recorded 887 extrajudicial killings and 185 enforced disappearances from Jan. 21, 2001, to Oct. 31, 2007. But the figures have been severely disputed by the military.

?President Macapagal-Arroyo appointed the general who is in a state of denial over the extrajudicial killings. How can he help advance peace?? Reyes asked. With reports from Nikko Dizon, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Norman Bordadora and Jocelyn R. Uy