Communist rebels are no longer referred to as “CTs" — or communist terrorists — in military reports; they are now referred to as CNN, short for Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front.
At a press briefing Wednesday, Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said this was to allow for more cordial relations between the government and the NDF in light of the impending resumption of peace negotiations next month.
“At this time, the most important thing is for the peace talks to move forward, move on. This is part of our confidence-building [measures]," Mabanta said.
“CNN is a very new acronym…We’ve started not to use communist terrorists because we would certainly like that these talks move forward and attain what has been set for as its objectives," he added.
Mabanta said they started calling the rebels CNN in their reports late last year.
Government and NDF negotiators are due to meet in Oslo, Norway on Friday in preparation for the resumption of the formal talks from Feb. 19 to Feb. 25.
Negotiations bogged down in 2004 after the United States included the CPP and the NPA in its list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Mabanta said they may suggest the removal of the CPP and NPA from the list depending on the outcome of the negotiations. The NDF is the political wing of the CPP, the NPA its armed wing.
Mabanta refused to comment regarding the basis for the US to retain the foreign terrorist tag on the CPP and the NPA. “I cannot really comment on that because I have no basis on why they came out with those (tags)," he said.
The official, however, noted that at present, the NPA is still involved in extortion activities and “limited" execution of people.
Meanwhile, the CPP renewed its demand for the release of a captured NPA official, Tirso “Ka Bart" Alcantara, before the resumption of the peace talks.
In a statement, the CPP pushed for Alcantara’s release so he can sit as a consultant representing Southern Luzon during the negotiations.
“The continued detention of Ka Bart and other NDF peace consultants and their staff constitutes a blatant violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG)," the CPP said, referring to an earlier agreement that provides immunity from arrest to members, consultants and staff of the NDF who are part of the negotiating panel
“The [government] must comply with its obligations under JASIG and effect the release of Ka Bart and other detained NDF consultants and accredited personnel," it said in a statement posted on its website.
The CPP has asked the NDF peace panel to take up in the upcoming preliminary talks with its government counterpart the matter of the government’s alleged violations of the JASIG and other previous agreements.
It said these issues should be resolved before the resumption of formal peace talks in February. - KBK
