RESTART PEACE TALKS WITH NDF, MILF
GOV'T CAN'T FIGHT A MULTI-FRONT WAR - CHIZ

Sen. Chiz Escudero yesterday said the government should reflect on its war policy against the major insurgent groups and initiate moves aimed at resuming peace talks with the communist National Democratic Front (NDF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"While we laud the valor of our soldiers, the government knows we cannot fight a multi-front war," the opposition senator said.

"Perhaps, the best legacy this administration can hand down to our people is to initiate the resumption of talks with main rebel groups which can lead to an enduring truce that will last until next year's elections."

Escudero pointed out the military may be overstretching its forces and resources in its current campaign against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan even as it hunts down MILF renegade forces in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur and helping the police in battling the New People's Army (NPA) throughout the country.

He said the police is also hard-pressed in performing its other law and order duties because of the communist insurgency.

"We did this during the time of President Fidel Ramos and reaped peace dividends. Why can't we do it now when we are faced with multi-front war?," Escudero asked.

"We have to contend with poverty, corruption, and rising criminality amid a deepening economic crisis and a potentially divisive election season. We can spend the billions being spent for waging war instead on critical development projects," he said.

Escudero said that administration can implement confidence-building measures, such as a unilateral ceasefire, to show its sincerity in achieving a peace settlement with both rebel groups.

Exiled communist leader Jose Ma. Sison had earlier welcomed Escudero's proposal for the administration to endorse the lifting of the terrorist tag on Sison and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to break the impasse in the negotiations.

"The removal of the terrorist tag would greatly improve the atmosphere for the peace negotiations and would encourage progress of the process in terms of further substantive agreements," Sison said in a statement from Utrecht, the Netherlands.

"The Arroyo government should heed the advice of Senator Chiz Escudero," he said.

As for the negotiations with the MILF, the senator said the government must make sure that the local government units in the affected regions are consulted on what it will offer on the table before the resumption of negotiations.