Razon vows to continue peace talks
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MANILA, Sept. 11 - Saying the peace process is alive, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino I.
Razon Jr. said the snag in the peace talks with communist rebels is only temporary.
"Let me assure you that this development has, instead, fired-up our enthusiam even more to push the peace
process more aggressively forward," Razon told members of the Council of Inter-Religious Leaders Prayer
Breakfast Fellowship (CIRLPBF) in Quezon City on Wednesday.
Resumption of negotiation between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) scheduled in
Oslo, Norway last Aug. 28 was put on hold after the NDF made new demands just when the talk was about to
start.
But Razon said "the peace process remains alive, strong and moving."
He vowed that the Arroyo government will "continue to talk to the NDF."
At the same time, Razon also said that with regard to the peace talk with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF), the government also remains optimistic.
"We continue to see more light in our engagements with the MILF," he added.
"We have not and will never allow any setback to slow down our journey towards peace. We continue to forge
ahead, this time with even more passion, with deeper resolve and with greater optimism," Razon said.
Talks with the MILF bogged down in August last year after the signing of the controversial Memorandum of
Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) did not push through after the Supreme Court declared it
unconstitutional.
Razon told the religious leaders that the government will not stop its peace process with the communist
rebels and the MILF until a lasting peace in the country is achieved.
The gathering of interfaith leaders, Razon said, "is testament to the fact that we all recognize the need to move
as one as we endeavor to help address the root causes of armed conflicts, find more ways to effectively push
the peace process forward, and hopefully give our share in finding a lasting solution to the problem that have,
for the past several decades."
Razon said the insurgency war has brought untild misery and destruction to the country.
He cited the need for interfaith commitment to enhance the efforts to pursue a non-violent endeavors in the
quest for peace while recognizing the respecting the diversity and uniqueness of each one of us."
"Diverse though our cultures and beliefs may be, we must tread the same path towards peace - the path of
non-violence, understanding, tolerance and harmony," Razon added.
The CIRLPB is headed by Bishop Pedro T. Maglaya Jr., chairman of the Evangelical Society in the Philippines.
Among those who attended the breakfast meet were Bishop Pedro Maglaya Jr, chairman, Inter-Religious
Federation for World Peace, and his wife, Dr. Elda Maglaya; Rev. Samson Almarez and Mrs. Almarez of the
United Church of Christ in the Philippines; Bishops Jessie Penoso, Elie T. Soria, Romlo Salcedo and Dr.
Claro Borja; and Rev. Samuel Gecite, among others.
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