Honasan on peace negotiations: Why talk when attacks continue?

Sen. Gringo Honasan. CATHY MIRANDA / INQUIRER.net

Why resume peace talks if attacks continue?

This was the question posed by Senator Gregorio Honasan II on Wednesday as lawmakers and activists call for the immediate resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

“Too many, especially non-combatant civilians have been injured and lost their lives, soldiers policemen rebels and families they left behind, property destroyed over decades of armed conflict, for the peace talks to just be resumed without a clear plan and long-term trajectory,” Honasan said in  a statement.

These events, he said, had left behind lessons such as the “absence of good faith,” and the “continuation of attacks by elements ‘outside the control’ of parties negotiating without public condemnation of the attacks.”

“So why are we talking in the first place?” he asked.

Last March 22, at least 61 members of the House of Representatives signed a resolution urging President Rodrigo Duterte to resume the foiled peace talks between the left-leaning group and the government.

In November last year, Duterte terminated the peace negotiations with the NDFP, followed by a proclamation declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorist organizations on Dec. 5.

But last February, the President said he might consider the resumption of peace talks upon consultations with his military officials. /jpv

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