Govt to NDFP: No preconditions involving prisoners, please

Malacañang on Thursday stood firm that it has already released a good number of detained communist leaders as a confidence-building measure for the resumption of the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). At a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda reiterated the government's position that the release of the detained communist leaders should not be made a precondition for the resumption of the negotiations. “As far as we’re concerned, ang mahalaga sa amin ay ipagpatuloy po ‘yung peace talks but hindi naman po pwede gawing condition na palayain lahat kaagad ang mga salarin or mga may kaso po ngayon," he said. He noted that Lingig, Surigao del Sur Mayor Henry Dano, his two military escorts, and four government jail personnel are still in the hands of communist rebels. “Mayroon po silang pinanghahawakang ilang mga civilians—may isang mayor po silang na-kidnap and there are several others. So these things should be discussed properly," Lacierda said. Lacierda was reacting to the statement of Fidel Agcaoili, NDFP negotiating panel spokesperson, accusing government chief negotiator Alexander Padilla of speaking with a “forked tongue." In a statement issued Thursday, Agcaoili noted that Padilla agreed to hold the next formal talks in October but refused to release their members. “He denies the obligation of the (government) to release the JASIG-protected persons from prison in accordance with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) by saying that the (government) or he is merely ‘open to releasing said persons but is not giving any assurances’," he said. Agcaoili added that Padilla is practically blocking the possibility of formal talks as there can be no formal talks if the government does not release all or most of the JASIG-protected persons that should have been released before June 2011. He said the releases must be made three weeks before the formal talks so that both negotiating panels and the third party facilitator can have ample time to prepare. He further said the Aquino regime is condoning and continuing the violations of the JASIG and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. “It continues to keep in prison the JASIG-protected persons and the 350 other political prisoners whose human rights have been violated since the time of the Arroyo regime," Agcaoili said. On Tuesday, Padilla and NDFP chief negotiator Luis Jaladoni met with Norwegian facilitator Ambassador Ture Lundh and agreed to resume formal peace negotiations next month. He said the agreement was without preconditions or commitments to release NDFP consultants. Lacierda said he would let Padilla comment on the matter as he lamented that they have been hearing disparate voices from the other party. “We just want one voice and Mr. Alex Padilla would be able to determine who among these people who have been speaking recently in media should be the one that the government will consider. As far as we know, may kinakausap po si Alex Padilla at ‘yun po ang aming kinikilala," he said. - KBK, GMA News