Aquino not optimistic about peace with communist rebels

President Aquino answers questions from the foreign correspondents based in the country during its annual forum Wednesday, Oct.17, 2012, at a Manila hotel in the Philippines. Aquino admitted before the forum that he was “pessimistic” about the prospects for peace with communist rebels. AP PHOTO/BULLIT MARQUEZ

MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino on Wednesday admitted that he was “pessimistic” about the prospects for peace with communist rebels even as he claimed that talks with the New People’s Army were “moving forward.”

“Well, the other day I was told that they are renewing dialogue with us,” said the President at a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

He was referring to the stalled peace process with the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), which has not moved under his presidency. But he did not provide details.

“Am I as optimistic? I tend to be pessimistic in the sense of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. In this case, I will not change,” Aquino said candidly.

Before the Manila-based foreign correspondents could draw negative conclusions from this statement, the President added: “But there is some reason to believe that we are moving along in terms—we’re moving forward, rather, in terms of—the dialogue and the aim of, well, the efforts that we are trying to achieve (is a peaceful) settlement also with the CPP-NPA-NDF.”

No timetable

Aquino’s hesitance to be optimistic about the on-and-off peace process with the Maoist insurgents was due, in part, to the lack of a clear timetable for the resumption of the talks.

“At this point in time, I cannot tell you that there is a fixed date already when we will announce anything,” he said, but quickly added: “We’re moving forward… where it was previously, it had stagnated.”

Even presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda could not say for sure whether there was any official communication from the CPP-NPA-NDF, based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, to resume talks.

“We’ve never discussed the talks with communists,” said Lacierda in a phone interview, recalling a recent conversation with Aquino on the issue.

“But good for us; it’s a good news. We want to move ahead. We hope to move forward,” he said, when asked if he was expecting a breakthrough in the peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA-NDF.

It was Lacierda who told reporters last week that the Aquino administration was willing to resume talks with communist rebels without “preconditions.”

Buoyed by a preliminary agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Lacierda said: “We would like to believe that it will inspire the CPP-NPA of the sincerity of this government in working toward a peaceful agreement with rebel groups, and we have seen this with the MILF,” Lacierda said.

He called on the communists to follow in the footsteps of the MILF by restarting peace negotiations, which have not moved under the Aquino administration.

Jasig list

Lacierda said the CPP leaders were the ones reluctant to resume negotiations. Their leaders have made the release of captured rebels a condition for the resumption of the talks.

Signed by the government and the NDF peace panels in 1995, the Jasig guarantees NDF members, consultants and staff who work with the negotiating team immunity from arrest.

Under the agreement, however, holders of a safe-conduct pass should not engage in criminal activities, such as terrorism and extortion or hostile acts against the government for the duration of the pass’ effectivity.

Lacierda said the talks were stalled because of disagreements over the verification of the status of 14 rebels that the NDF wanted released.

The floppy disk containing the names of the 14 had been stored in a vault in the Netherlands. A Dutch bishop opened the vault in the presence of government and NDF representatives, and all of them found the file had been corrupted.

Lacierda said the CPP-NPA wanted to provide a new list, but the government refused because it had no assurance that the new list would name the same people on the original list.

“It’s their insistence before any talks should continue that certain persons on the Jasig list should be released. But again that’s our position. From the very start we’ve maintained that there should be no preconditions,” he added.