Palace prods CPP to accept ceasefire

Malacañang told communist rebels yesterday that if they forge a ceasefire agreement with the government, their group could be removed from the list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) compiled by the United States and other countries.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye suggested that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), its political arm the National Democratic Front (NDF), and its armed wing the New People’s Army (NPA) take up President Arroyo’s offer of a ceasefire as a gesture of their sincerity in continuing the peace talks.

"A ceasefire is one of the best ways the CPP-NPA can get (away from) the perception of the international community that (it) is a terrorist organization," he said.

On Friday, the President renewed her offer to enter into a formal ceasefire agreement with the groups, despite the US government’s insistence that the communist rebels remain on the terror watchlist.

Yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo refused to comment on reports that CPP chairman Jose Ma. Sison rejected her offer of a ceasefire and instead said the matter would be best addressed by Teresita Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process.

Deles was one of several Cabinet members who joined the President on her visit to Quezon province, a known stronghold of communist rebels. Mrs. Arroyo had gone to Quezon to inspect the progress of the government’s rehabilitation of towns severely damaged by floods and landslides late last year.

Speaking over Radio Mindanao Network yesterday, Bunye said the President’s offer of a ceasefire to the communist rebels was part of her 10-point legacy agenda, which also seeks a final peace pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"Waging peace with both the MILF and the NDF is part of the President’s priority agenda and all we want are signs of sincerity to work for lasting peace for the sake of our people and the national community," he said.

Bunye said final peace agreements with the MILF and the CPP-NPA-NDF will result in the termination of hostilities, which has plagued the countryside for decades and hindered economic development.

"We all know that if we continue to fight each other, we will not go forward and our country’s progress will forever be stalled," he said. "If they really fight for – as they claim – our countrymen, they would be more benefited if there is peace."

Although formal talks with the NDF have been suspended since last year, Secretary Silvestre Bello III has been shuttling to and from Oslo, Norway to conduct backdoor talks with communist leaders based in Utrecht, The Netherlands. These dialogues were facilitated by the Norwegian government.

The NDF’s negotiating panel withdrew from peace talks in August last year after the US government decided to keep the CPP and the NPA on its terror watchlist.

It was in late 2002 that the CPP-NPA were formally listed as terrorists. Because of this, the Dutch government decided to take back the social, housing and medical benefits it had extended to Sison as a "political refugee" seeking asylum in Europe.

Dutch authorities also froze Sison’s personal bank account and that of his family. Sison is the NDF negotiating panel’s "chief political consultant," but the Philippine government believes he has reassumed his role as CPP leader under the nom de guerre Armando Liwanag.

Deles, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Presidential Chief of Staff Norberto Gonzales had conveyed the President’s offer to the Norwegian government.

They also assured European authorities that Sison no longer needed asylum in The Netherlands, saying he will be safe should he decide to return to the Philippines.

NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni said the offer was an attempt "to secure the capitulation and pacification" of their group.

He said the Philippine government, particularly then defense secretary Angelo Reyes and the late foreign affairs secretary Blas Ople, lobbied before Washington and the Council Common of the 15-nation European Union from late 2001 to mid-2002 to have the CPP-NPA declared as terrorists.

Jalandoni accused Romulo of "turning matters upside down" and said peace negotiations "are practically being scuttled."

He also said Gonzales and Deles are "rabid anti-Communists" working for a government that has "no intention of continuing peace negotiations to address the root causes of the armed conflict and negotiate economic, social and political reforms."

Sison, on the other hand, warned that, should a ceasefire take place, there are likely to be violations that the government would later blame on the CPP-NPA. He added that this was the experience of the MILF in Mindanao.

He said the ceasefire offer was "insulting" to the communist rebel movement. – With Benjie Villa