Monday, February 24, 2003
Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. has called on the government to work for the removal of the terrorist tag on the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army to get the peace talks with the National Democratic Front going again.
The peace negotiations bogged down after the NDF pressed the government to have the terrorist tag leveled against it by foreign governments removed. These countries include the US, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and those in the European Union. The NDF is the umbrella organization of the CPP and the latter's armed wing, the NPA.
'The terrorist tag should be removed if only for the peace negotiations to continue,' Guingona told the INQUIRER in a chance interview.
'Besides, the NPA were rebels long before this terrorist tag became common in the international community,' he said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, for his part, said the NDF should be blamed for the delay in the peace talks, even after the government had placed a final peace agreement on the table.
'There is a stalemate and if they don't want to negotiate, the onus will be on them, said Ople, before leaving for Malaysia as part of Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo's delegation to the Non-Aligned Movement Summit.
Ople said the government will not work to remove the terrorist tag on the CPP and NPA if no substantial progress is made on the negotiating table.
'This interdiction by the international community will not be reviewed unless the NDF shows good faith, and returns to the peace table,' Ople said.
'When there has been substantial progress made in the negotiations, that's the only time we will consider reviewing the terror tag on the CPP-NPA and (NDF Consultant Jose Ma.) Sison himself,' he said.
The government lobbied the international community to include the CPP-NPA in the list of terrorist groups after the global war on terror made such lists mandatory under a United Nations resolution.
Being placed on the list meant a terror organization's assets were frozen and its funding resources were blocked, making it hard for the group to operate.
Ople said the government lobbied for the inclusion on the terror list of the CPP-NPA and Sison to force back the NDF to the peace table.