Solon hopes Pope Francis will convince PHL govt to resume talks with NDF

A lawmaker hopes Pope Francis will help convince the government to resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) and iron out any lingering issues with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) during his visit to the Philippines.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said he hopes Pope Francis can discuss peace talks with the two groups when he pays President Benigno Aquino III a courtesy call in Malacañang on Jan. 16.

“Pope Francis has spoken emphatically about the Palestinian question and involved himself in improving US-Cuba relations. We hope that he will intervene as well in the peace negotiations between the government and the NDF and the MILF,” Ridon said in a statement Tuesday.

“We also ask the president to act in humility and listen to what the Pope has to say,” he added.

Ridon said that while the MILF and Philippine government have already signed a peace agreement last year, “there are still issues that need to be ironed between [them] that Pope Francis can help with.”

The communist-led NDF, for its part, recently expressed openness in returning to the negotiating table with the government after Pope Francis’ visit from Jan. 15 to 19. The government has welcomed the offer but thumbed down the possibility of releasing supposed communist leader Benito Tiamzon and his wife, Wilma, as a precondition to the resumption of peace talks.

Pope Francis was instrumental in the restoration of diplomatic relations between US and Cuba, writing letters to both US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Fidel Castro. He met US and Cuban delegations in October last year at the Vatican, where negotiations were said to have reached a breakthrough.

Also in 2014, Pope Francis invited Israeli President Shimon Peres and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, to a historic prayer meeting at the Vatican. The three leaders planted an olive tree during the meeting as a sign of peace. —Xianne Arcangel/KBK, GMA News