MANILA - THE Philippine government said on Tuesday it was hoping to end one of the world's longest-running communist insurgencies within three years, as it prepared to restart peace talks with the rebels.
Chief government negotiator Alexander Padilla said ahead of a Christmas ceasefire that neither side could win the 41-year-old conflict by force, and that the focus should be on the negotiations slated to start in February.
'We hope that everything will be finished in three years because we want the administration to implement the settlement,' Mr Padilla said.
'If we cannot have an agreement in this administration, we might find it hard to have it in the next.' Mr Padilla's comments appeared to constitute a raising of expectations by President Benigno Aquino's government.
Mr Aquino said shortly after coming into office on June 30 that he wanted to sign a peace pact by the time his six-year term ended in 2016.
Mr Padilla said Mr Aquino's predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, who shelved peace talks in 2005, proved that an armed solution was not possible. 'The previous administration tried to eliminate the NPA in three years' time but did not succeed because they used military means,' he said. -- AFP
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