MANILA, Philippines—Senator Francis Escudero slammed President Benigno Aquino’s secret meeting with Murad Ebrahim in Japan, saying the President might have been “ill-advised” to personally meet with the Moro rebel leader.
“I think the President may have been ill-advised to meet personally as he is not even his counterpart,” Escudero said on Thursday.
It might not be a good tactic also for the President, Escudero said, to negotiate with them.
Aquino and Ebrahim met for two hours on Thursday in Tokyo, where they agreed to speed up efforts on achieving peace in Mindanao.
Escudero then turned to presidential adviser on peace process Teresita Deles, who he said should protect the President.
“She (Deles) should just do her job and give her president deniability with respect to this early stages of the negotiations,” Escudero added.