Peace talks still best option for government – CAR solons

November 25, 2017 Provincial

BAGUIO CITY – Peace negotiations remain as the government’s best option to end the five-decade old Maoist-inspired insurgency in the country, at least two Cordillera lawmakers said.
Benguet lawmaker Ronald Cosalan said, “Government must still leave the door open for possible future peace talks.”
Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Jesus Dureza has officially declared the end of future meetings with leaders of the communist movement after Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s directive of not pursuing the talks citing actions of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in the past that did not reciprocate government’s overtures.
Cosalan is optimistic, “even on a regional level, peace between the government and CPP-NPA is still very possible.”
Ifugao lawmaker Teodoro Baguilat Jr. is hoping that backdoor channels at the opportune time can revive talks even on a regional level.
Baguilat blamed the CPP-NPA for “(its) absence of good faith and goodwill with its continued attacks on the military and police units and their expansion of their operations and influence in many barangays.”
It is unfortunate, said the Ifugao lawmaker, “considering that we are moving peace in Mindanao and facing a new threat in IS-inspired terrorists.”
“I still believe that the NDF’s socialist agenda and their advocacies can be pursued without the use of violence in a free society,” Baguilat said. ACE ALEGRE / ABN