Philippines government cancels peace talks with rebels

The Philippines government on Saturday announced that it will not participate in the fifth round of peace talks in the Netherlands with rebels.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said the government "will not proceed to participate" in the scheduled peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front (NDF), the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), until there is an "enabling environment" to proceed with the talks to end Asia's longest-running insurgency.

"The road to peace is not a well paved road. It has humps and bumps along the way. This is not an easy road to peace," Xinhua news agency quoted Dureza as saying.

Dureza also cited the attacks by the New People's Army (NPA), the military wing of the CPP, and the latest order of the CPP to its ground forces to intensify their offensive amid President Duterte's declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

The Philippines government and the leftist rebels signed "an agreement on an interim joint ceasefire" during their April peace talks in the Netherlands.

However, the government claimed the NPA attacked a food company, torching some equipment and disarming security guards in southern Mindanao, on April 29.

NDF negotiating panel senior adviser Luis Jalandoni said it received notice from the government about the cancellation.

"So we see clearly, it's their responsibility in doing so because the NDF negotiating panel side was willing to take up such issues as the human right violations and how these can be remedied," Jalandoni said.

The government and the rebel panels are scheduled to resume peace talks from Saturday to Thursday in the town of Noordwijk in the Netherlands.

Norway is brokering the ongoing formal peace negotiations, acting as the third party facilitator of the talks since 2001.

--IANS

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