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| New People’s Army (NPA) "Soldiers" |
By Alexis Romero
MANILA, Philippines - It’s the New People’s Army (NPA) that is to blame for the delays in the peace negotiations between the government and communist rebels, President Duterte said yesterday.
“We are facing so many fronts. We are facing the NPAs. We are having talks in the Netherlands. They have not made any progress because I have some conditions to impose before we go back to (the talks),” the President said in remarks before officials and selected members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines at Malacañang. “Eh sino ba (Who was responsible)? We did it eh sinira naman nila ’yung usapan (they did not comply with the agreement),” he added.
Duterte was apparently referring to his decision to terminate the peace talks last February following a series of NPA attacks against government troops.
The President agreed to resume the talks last month but insisted on the crafting of clear parameters for a ceasefire. He also demanded that the rebels release the people they had kidnapped, stop the burning of farm and public works equipment, the collection of so-called revolutionary taxes and the claiming of certain territories.
Government and communist negotiators have resumed formal negotiations in the Netherlands, where they are expected to discuss a bilateral ceasefire agreement as well as social and economic reforms.
Read the full story at PhilStar