MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The joint agreements forged during the over 20 years of negotiations between the leftist rebels and the government should continue to be in effect and must be respected by both sides until there is formal termination of the peace negotiations, rebel group said today.
The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) said that the joint pacts include the Hague Joint Declaration of 1990, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law of 1998, and the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees.
The group said that other critical agreements "that were forged through difficult negotiations and which serve as hallmarks of the determination of the NDF and past Philippine governments to work through differences and unite on matters of crucial importance to the Filipino people" should also be respected.
The Aquino administration recently declared that it would no longer pursue the 27-year-long formal peace talks or regular track with the leftist rebels since they were going nowhere. The special track of negotiations with the insurgents also bogged down last February.
"In light of the recent bellicose statements of the GPH ( government of the Philippines) effectively terminating the NDFP- GPH peace negotiations, the CPP and the NDF await a formal notification from the GPH terminating the formal peace negotiations," said the leftist rebel group.
It said that peace negotiations are a two-sided interactive process and to end it, one side must formally inform the other that it is no longer interested in the talks.