Govt eyes 'more frequent' truces with NDF

The government is planning to pursue more ceasefire agreements with the New People's Army (NPA) throughout the course of the peace negotiations with the communist-led umbrella group National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). In an interview with GMANews.TV, chief government negotiator Alexander Padilla said he plans to offer the proposal to NDF negotiators when formal peace talks resume in February. Padilla said he was "hoping" that the NDFP would agree on observing a ceasefire whenever the two panels would go into a meeting. "May ganoong thinking na during negotiation, kapag lesser ang level ng violence ay nag-iincrease ang confidence sa peace talks," said Padilla. (There’s this thinking that during negotiations, a lesser level of violence increases the confidence in the peace talks.) The peace talks are slated to start with informal meetings from January 14 to 19, and lead to formal talks from February 15 to 21. Both sets of talks are to be held in Oslo, Norway, with the Norwegian government brokering the negotiations. "The longer and the more frequent the ceasefires are, it's always better," Padilla said, adding that the goal is to have "more frequent ceasefires" throughout the entire run of the peace talks, which he estimated to last for three years. "Our time frame is no longer than three years. What we need here is a political solution and we have to achieve this during the remainder of President Benigno Aquino III's term," Padilla said. He said that while the proposed ceasefires would only be observed during periods when there are scheduled meetings between the two panels and not on any other dates, "it is still better than having no truce at all." He said the two panels have not yet agreed on the next schedules for the peace talks beyond the February 15 to 21 meeting. Exploratory talks between the two parties held in Hong Kong in early December led to an agreement to return to the negotiating table and achieve comprehensive agreements on economic, political and other social issues to end the 41-year-old leftist insurgency. 'Positive sign' As part of confidence-building efforts before the resumption of talks, the parties also agreed to observe a two-week ceasefire between government security forces and the NPA that started in December 16 and ended on Monday. The 19-day ceasefire was said to be the longest in the past 10 years. Based on his "personal assessment," Padilla said the December 16 to January 3 ceasefire seemed to be a "positive sign" that negotiations would become a success. Save for "sporadic violations," there were no deaths and serious injuries during the 19-day ceasefire, said Padilla, who is also health undersecretary. (See: AFP says holiday truce a success; CPP cites another violation) Talks crumbled in 2004 after the NDFP backed out after the Philippine government under then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo rejected its demand to urge the US and the European Union (EU) to take the NPA and the Communist Party of the Philippines off the list of international terrorist organizations. There have been several attempts to restart formal talks since 2004, with the latest effort early in the year by the Arroyo administration. In early December, NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni arrived in the Philippines from Hong Kong, further boosting prospects of finally reaching a peace agreement. (See: NDF negotiator Jalandoni’s arrival boosts peace prospects)—JV, GMANews.TV