Philippine Rebels to Offer Truce and Monitoring Plan

Communist rebels, who this month rejected a government cease-fire, said Saturday that they will offer President Corazon Aquino their own plan to end the fighting, including committees to monitor the accord.

In a statement to news organizations, the National Democratic Front said it will offer the government this week “a temporary nationwide cease-fire agreement of 30 days or longer with specific safeguards and complete mechanism for its implementation.”

The National Democratic Front, a Communist umbrella organization that includes representatives of the New People’s Army, said safeguards would include national, regional and provincial committees to monitor the cease-fire. The committees would have an equal number of representatives from both sides.

There was no immediate official reaction from the government.

Aquino’s spokesman, Teodoro Benigno, told reporters Friday that the president will not discuss the Communists’ conditions for ending their 17-year-old insurgency until they agree to stop fighting.

Pressure for Action

Since taking office in February after the ouster of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Aquino has offered to give the rebels amnesty if they surrender their arms. But she faces growing pressure from the Philippine army and some Cabinet members to take tough action.

The National Democratic Front statement said its cease-fire proposal “will ensure the prevention, or at least reduction, of violations and their bloody consequences.”

The statement was signed by Saturnino Ocampo and Antonio Zumel, the front’s representatives in talks with the government that began last month.

On Sept. 14, the front rejected Aquino’s offer of an immediate 30-day cease-fire. They demanded an end to military operations in insurgent-controlled areas and removal of troops from provincial villages and towns.

In Saturday’s statement, the rebels said the government offer was “dangerous because it could be so easily violated.”

The front also accused the army of provoking clashes to trigger an all-out war.

“Indeed, the armed forces of the Philippines and not the New People’s Army has stepped up the fighting,” the rebels said. “The NPA has responded with tactical offensives, yes, but all these have been launched as defensive actions.”

Aquino conferred Friday with military leaders and members of her negotiating team. Some Philippine newspapers said she was engaged in a last-ditch effort to save the peace talks.

Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, widely viewed as a possible presidential rival, has charged repeatedly that the Communists are not bargaining in good faith and warned that the National Democratic Front, estimated to have 16,500 to 22,000 fighters, is gaining strength.

He and other Cabinet ministers have called on the government to set a deadline for the rebels to accept a cease-fire. However, Benigno said Aquino remains committed to exhausting all peaceful means to a solution.

Manila newspapers, meanwhile, reported that at least 18 people--nine of them soldiers--were killed Friday in clashes with rebels on the southern islands of Mindanao and Mindoro.