Talks With Philippine Rebels Start : Aquino Regime Seeks Truce With Outlawed Communist Party

MANILA — Representatives of the Aquino government and the outlawed Communist Party began talks today in an effort to negotiate a cease-fire and a lasting settlement of the 17-year-old communist insurgency.

“The talks have started,” Agriculture Minister Ramon Mitra, the government’s negotiator, said at the presidential palace after briefing President Corazon Aquino on his 3 1/2-hour meeting with communist representatives Saturnino Ocampo and Antonio Zumel.

The three men met at an undisclosed location in the capital.

The talks are regarded as a major breakthrough for Aquino, who has largely blamed the growth of the insurgency on inadequate land reform, unemployment and human rights violations under the ousted regime of Ferdinand E. Marcos.

More than 1,500 people have died in the war since Aquino was swept to power Feb. 25 in a civilian-backed military revolt that toppled Marcos and sent him into exile in Hawaii.

Agenda and Site Discussed

Mitra said they “discussed in general terms the question of a cease-fire and then other substantive questions” such as an agenda and a site for future talks. He said the two sides agreed to meet again shortly on the agenda.

During the talks Ocampo, identified as a Communist Party Central Committee member, and Zumel, chairman of its political wing, the National Democratic Front, were accompanied by four unarmed men and Ocampo’s wife, Mitra said.

Ocampo, a former assistant business editor of the Manila Times, was the longest-held political prisoner under the Marcos regime until his escape 14 months ago. Zumel, former National Press Club president, went underground in 1972 after the imposition of martial law.

“I transmitted the wish of the president that there should be an end to the killing and if this thing ends, then we can take our time talking about the causes of alienation,” Mitra said.

‘We’re Old Friends’

“Our meeting was very pleasant, very cordial. We’re old friends. In 3 1/2 hours, only a third of the time was devoted to the insurgency,” he said.

“We talked about the old days of newspapering,” said Mitra, who also is a former journalist.

Armed forces chief Gen. Fidel V. Ramos was informed of the meeting and has guaranteed that the communist delegation members will not be arrested, trailed or harassed during the talks, Mitra said.

Mitra said the current talks should be held in two phases, the more urgent one focusing on a cease-fire with the 17,000-member communist-led New People’s Army, followed by talks on a permanent settlement.