ZAMBOANGA CITY, 7 October 2005 — Communist rebels yesterday said they would intensify attacks on government targets after Manila suspended safety and immunity guarantee for its negotiators following the collapse of peace talks.
“The New People’s Army (NPA) will continue to intensify its tactical offensives and deal more frequent and more powerful blows against Arroyo’s increasingly fascist rule.
“The people’s armed revolution will only grow stronger in proportion to worsening fascism under Arroyo,” rebel spokesman Gregorio Rosal said.
The government said Wednesday it was suspending the immunity guarantees because the rebels were “effectively withdrawing from the peace negotiations,” though chief negotiator Nieves Confessor said the government was keeping the door open to talks.
The NDF said yesterday it was ready to resume negotiations at any time, but that the government must comply with obligations under previous agreements.
“Instead of complying with its obligations, the (government) has demanded the capitulation of the (NDF) as the precondition for resuming the formal meetings,” the group’s statement said. The rebels, who are on US and European lists of terrorist organizations, suspended the Norwegian-brokered talks last year, saying the government has done little to remove the terrorist tag.
The 97 security passes issued under the joint agreement allowed communist officials and their staff, including non-members of the Communist Party of the Philippines, to engage in the talks.
The government first announced it would suspend the safety passes in August after the rebels said they would rather wait for a new administration to succeed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo than restart talks.
Arroyo was then grappling with her worst political crisis and a threat of impeachment for allegedly rigging last year’s election. The impeachment case was thrown out by her congressional allies.
Norway called both sides to a meeting in Oslo on Aug. 28-30, in which the rebels said they were still willing to hold talks, prompting the government to rescind plans to suspend the safety guarantees by Sept. 3.
The government later said the rebels agreed to resume talks this month, but the rebels denied it.
Chief rebel negotiator Luis Jalandoni said the rebels were still insisting that the government first show it has “satisfactorily addressed” the issue of the terror listing.
Rosal branded as fascist and dictatorial the so-called “calibrated preemptive response” by the government to break up anti-Arroyo protests in the country. He said the measures applied by Arroyo to quell the growing street protests and calls for her resignations would only attract more demonstrations.
“Arroyo’s policies have virtually become the equivalent of an undeclared martial law that are now further isolating her and intensifying the determination of the Filipino people to put an end to her much-hated regime,” he said in a statement. (Additional input from AP)
