Govt peace panel still eager to hold peace talks with communists

The government panel remains eager to resume formal peace talks with the communist rebels next month, despite the “unfortunate" accusations by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) that government’s chief negotiator is stalling it. That NDFP spokesperson Fidel Agcaoili accused GPH panel chief Alex Padilla of speaking with a “forked tongue" was unfortunate, the government panel said in a statement posted on its website Friday. “The government panel is eager to resume talks in October to seek a peaceful resolution to over four decades of armed conflict," according to the statement. In a separate statement Thursday, Agcaoili criticized Padilla, saying the government chief negotiation agreed to hold formal talks next October but refused to release detained NDFP 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. Padilla is practically blocking the possibility of formal talks, something that cannot happen as long as government keeps the JASIG-protected persons — who should have released before June 2011 — detained, Agcaoili added. The government panel said Agcaoili’s statement disregarded the agreement between the Padilla and NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni to resolve issues related to the talks privately rather than in the media. Padilla and Jaladoni met Tuesday with Norwegian facilitator Ambassador Ture Lundh at the ambassador’s residence in Makati City. In that meeting, the two sides agreed to resume peace negotiations next month. The agreement was without preconditions or commitments regarding the NDFP consultants detained by the military, Padilla said. — VS, GMA News