Talks With Communists Open in Manila

Agriculture Minister Ramon Mitra and two rebel delegates began negotiations Tuesday aimed at ending a Communist insurgency in the Philippines that began in 1969 and now costs an average of 11 lives a day.

Mitra said his 3 1/2-hour meeting with Satur Ocampo and Antonio Zumel was held at a mutual friend’s home in a Manila suburb. He would not be more specific.

The minister described the session as a “pleasant . . . cordial” gathering of three old friends who formerly were reporters for Manila newspapers.

Mitra said one issue discussed was the scope of safe conduct passes that the government has given the rebel representatives for the duration of talks. He said Ocampo and Zumel were skeptical about the passes, but he assured them that they and their “immediate companions” will be immune from arrest.

“I have even suggested to them that one of my sons can be their driver,” said Mitra, who spoke to reporters at the presidential palace after briefing President Corazon Aquino about the meeting.

The sides agreed to another formal meeting within two weeks and intend that the talks will be broader than the cease-fire negotiations initially planned, Mitra said, explaining:

Mutual Agreement

“It’s our mutual agreement that this is to be peace talks, not cease-fire. . . . If there is cease-fire, it should be one that will last until a permanent peace is achieved.”

Aquino called for cease-fire negotiations soon after former President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the country in February and she assumed power.

Military authorities estimate that an average of 11 people a day now are killed in guerrilla-related violence, compared to about 14 during the latter stages of Marcos’ 20-year rule.

The negotiators were newspaper reporters until the mid-1970s. Mitra entered politics, and Ocampo and Zumel joined the underground Communist guerrilla movement during the period of martial law, which Marcos declared in 1972 and continued for eight years.

Mitra said Ocampo’s wife, Carolina Malay, also a former journalist, was present during the talks, and four unarmed bodyguards accompanied the rebel negotiating team. The agriculture minister said he was the only government representative present.

Jose W. Diokno, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, is the other government negotiator, but he is in San Francisco for a medical checkup. Mitra said Teofisto Guingona, the chief government auditor, will fill in during Diokno’s absence.

Aquino freed about 500 political prisoners when she took office, including some of the top Communist leaders. The action won praise from the insurgents but prompted accusations by some opponents that she is a Communist sympathizer.

Military estimates put the guerrillas’ fighting strength at about 16,500.