AFP backs Aquino call to resume peace talks with NDFP

(Updated 2:28 am) Saying that it has "tried everything" to defeat the insurgency, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday expressed support for President Benigno Aquino III’s proposal for resuming the long-stalled peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said peace talks may provide a better solution to the decades-long insurgency problem since the military has already tried all options. “At this point, we have tried everything and we will give it [the peace talks] a try," he told reporters in an interview at the military headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. Although admitting that the negotiations may be a better option, Mabanta also said that the military will always be ready to fight armed groups if necessary. “At this point, we feel that the ceasefire or the peaceful solution can be given a chance rather than opt for a more aggressive (military) option. But depending on the situation, we will not, the Armed Forces will never lose its warrior spirit and we will confront all of the armed groups if needed," he said. Aquino said during his first State of the Nation Address on Monday that he is open to a ceasefire and peace talks between the government and the communist-led NDFP. (See: Aquino ready to talk peace with MILF, CPP-NPA-NDF) Mabanta said the military is “looking forward" to the proposed negotiations, saying the the AFP “will benefit most" from the plan to talk peace with the communist rebels. CPP: No to ceasefire before peace talks In his SONA, Aquino had challenged the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to come to the negotiating table with concrete suggestions, asking the rebels rhetorically: “To the CPP-NPA-NDF: are you prepared to put forth concrete solutions rather than pure criticism and finger-pointing?" NDFP chief political consultant Jose Ma. Sison, for his part, reminded the government that the revolutionary movement has already put forward “substantive and concrete proposals" for the government in the past, and likewise challenged the Aquino administration to immediately form a negotiating panel to discuss these proposals with the NDFP panel. Sison and other key NDFP negotiators are based in The Netherlands, where they have lived in exile since the late 1980s. Sison, who admits to having been the CPP’s “founding chairman," also rejected Aquino’s proposal to have a ceasefire first before resuming peace talks with the Philippine government. Sison said it is “unjust" to expect the communist party to engage in a ceasefire and surrender before peace negotiations. “It is unjust for anyone to expect the revolutionary forces and the people to simply cease fire and surrender to a rotten ruling system that shuns patriotic and progressive demands and refuses to engage in basic reforms," he said in a statement posted on the CPP’s website on Tuesday. The NDFP chief political consultant said that the ceasefire should come during the later stage of the peace negotiations, when substantive agreements have already been made between the two parties. In a separate interview with RPN 9's Paolo Capino, chief of the NDFP negotiating panel Luis Jalandoni also suggested that the Aquino government "consider the concrete proposal made by the NDFP on 27 August 2005: 'Concise Agreement for Immediate Just Peace' which was personally handed over to the GRP Panel in Oslo on 28 August 2005." Jalandoni added, in an apparent swipe at the government's peace advisers, that "Mr. Aquino appears not adequately informed about this and the other above-mentioned concrete proposals of the NDFP."—JV, GMANews.TV