Philippine Rebels Name Negotiator : Communists Choose Ex-Journalist, Jailed by Marcos, for Talks

Communist rebels have chosen a former journalist who was jailed under ousted President Ferdinand E. Marcos to negotiate a cease-fire to their 17-year-old guerrilla war, President Corazon Aquino announced today.

Aquino said she will appoint a government negotiator within 48 hours but she declined to release more details.

“I’d like to be extra careful. I don’t want anything to upset or derail this effort of the government,” she said. “The mere fact that they named one of their negotiators is good enough for me.”

Aquino said the rebels named Satur Ocampo, 47, as their representative. Ocampo was jailed by Marcos 10 years ago on subversion and rebellion charges.

Marcos had alleged that Ocampo was a ranking Communist Party official. It is not illegal to be a communist in the Philippines, but the party is outlawed because it advocates the overthrow of the government.

Escaped Jail Last Year

Ocampo escaped from jail in May, 1985, while on a liberty pass to attend a National Press Club election in Manila. He had been the business editor of the Manila Times until Marcos closed the paper down when he declared martial law in 1972.

Aquino announced the breakthrough at a news conference marking her first 100 days in office since Marcos was ousted by a civilian-military revolt Feb. 25.

The announcement came one week after the National Democratic Front, an umbrella organization of rebel groups, released a statement saying it had named a cease-fire negotiator.

Presidential spokesman Joker Arroyo, appearing with Aquino, said military leaders will “probably not” participate in peace talks.

The New People’s Army, the military arm of the Communist Party, has fought against the government for 17 years. It had a few hundred members until the end of the 1970s, when its ranks swelled as dissatisfaction with the Marcos regime grew. Authorities now estimate it has 16,500 fighters.

Few Have Surrendered

Aquino has offered the insurgents amnesty, but few have surrendered.

She also said Vice President Salvador Laurel has started setting up a panel to negotiate with the Moro National Liberation Front, which represents Muslim insurgents seeking an independent state.

Under the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, which never went into effect, Marcos had agreed to autonomy for some Muslim regions.

Laurel said at a news conference today in Tokyo, where he was seeking economic aid, that the Aquino government will hold general elections in November to speed up the transition to a “truly constitutional democracy.”

Laurel’s remark was the first indication of when the polls are to be held.