Manila: National Democratic Front's (NDF) lead peace negotiator Luis Jalandoni arrived in the capital on Saturday after he secured a commitment from the government that he will not be arrested.
"We are happy to be back," reports quoted Jalandoni as saying upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as he and his wife Coni Ledesma faced the media.
Jalandoni had said that he would use his visit to the country after several years to see his family.
Guarded optimism
The former priest had flown in from Hong Kong two days after holding talks there on Wednesday and Thursday with Alexander Padilla, his counterpart in the government peace negotiating panel.
The visit is viewed as a positive development in the peace process. It was Padilla and his co-member in the government peace panel, Pablo Sanidad, who secured a commitment from the administration of President Benigno Aquino that the NDF peace panel members will not be arrested by the government by virtue of a previous signed agreement that gives then immunity from arrest.
Jalandoni announced on Friday that the NDF and the government had agreed to hold formal peace talks on February 19 to 25, 2011 in Oslo, Norway. Prior to the parleys, preliminary exchanges have been set on January 14 to 18, 2011 also in Oslo.
Previous administration
It can be recalled that the NDF and the previous administrations had tried several times to reengage the peace process that started during the late 1980s under president Corazon Aquino, the incumbent leader's mother. Each time the talks were due to resume, the negotiators would bring up procedural and technical issues. Meanwhile, the presidential palace is regarding an 18-day unilateral ceasefire it recently declared with guarded optimism.
The palace had requested the NDF and its political organisation, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and armed wing, the New People's Army, to desist from exploiting the 18-day suspension of military operations to strengthen its forces.
Aquino announced an 18-day yuletide unilateral ceasefire on Friday as part of "confidence-building measures", as talks are poised to resume between the government and the 42-year-old insurgent movement. "We hope the ceasefire will not be used for any purpose other than what was agreed upon," Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said in an interview aired by government-run dzRB radio.
In the past, insurgents had truce as an opportunity for propaganda.
