Informal talks with Reds to resume this month - Ermita

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s stalled informal negotiations with the communist-led National Democratic Front (NDF) for the resumption of formal peace talks is set to resume this month in the Netherlands, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Wednesday. In a press briefing in Malacañang, Ermita said the resumption of negotiations were made possible after the group "softened" and agreed to lower to four from 10 the agenda items needed to begin the formal talks. “Mukhang lumalambot na sila and government nagpapakita ng good will by saying we will not insist on some agenda items [It looks like they’re softening and the government is showing goodwill by saying we will not insist on some agenda items," he said. The informal talks between the government and the NDF were stalled last December after both parties failed to reach an agreement on how cease-fire should be implemented. Maoist rebels have been waging insurgency campaigns, one of the longest remaining ideological struggles in the world, to seize political power. Formal peace negotiations collapsed in 2004 collapsed in 2004 after the US and European Union included the New People’s Army (NPA), the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, in their list of terror groups. The NDF, which is based in the Dutch city Utrecht, is the umbrella organization of the Philippine communist movement. Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV