OPAPP: CPP pushing ‘own brand’ of peace talks

MANILA, Philippines — Peace negotiations between the government and the local communist movement have been stalled because the insurgents’ side has been pushing its own “flawed” terms toward peace, a ranking Malacañang official said on Saturday.

Lawyer Wilben Mayor, chief of staff and spokesperson of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp), said future peace talks would only prosper if these were done within the framework of the Philippine Constitution.

“The government has always been supportive of peace talks with the communist group. However, it must, first and foremost, adhere to the Philippine Constitution and the democratic process,” he said.

According to Mayor, the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP) is pushing for its “own brand of peace talks,” which is anchored on the adoption of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social Economic Reforms (Caser) as a precondition for negotiations to resume.

“In the first place, Caser is flawed. The document is filled with unconstitutional provisions,” the Opapp official said.

He said the CPP was supposedly “trying to sell the idea” that it was the government that did not want to engage in peace talks.

“But their real intention is only to hold the peace negotiations hostage by shoving Caser down the government and the Filipino people’s throats,” Mayor said.

He said the communists had been using the peace negotiations as a weapon against the government.