Gov't blames leftist rebels for stalling peace process

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government blamed the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) for the collapse of the peace talks, a senior government official said today.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said, in a news briefing, "We would like to have a peace agreement with them but it is not us which is the stumbling block to the peace process."

The leftist rebels have blamed the Aquino administration for the stalled peace talks as they reportedly claimed that the prospect of forging a peace pact under the current government was bleak.

They also slammed the government for the failure to implement the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (Carhrihl), which the Philippine government and the NDF, the political wing of the CPP-NPA, signed in 1998.

But Lacierda said that it was the leftist rebels who have been violating the pact on respect for human rights.

Lacierda also recalled that it was CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison who earlier proposed for a ceasefire with the government, but later withdrew his proposal.

"We were very happy with it (Sison's proposal). Suddenly, they withdraw that offer of cessation of hostilities. So it's not us who's stopping it," he explained.

Peace talks between the government and the CPP-NPA-NDF bogged down last February following Sison's withdrawal of his proposal for a truce. The Aquino government is now developing a "new approach" to end the more than four decades armed struggle by the leftist rebels.