Rebels Halt Truce Talks in Philippines

The slaying of labor leader Rolando Olalia disrupted negotiations Friday aimed at ending the Communist insurgency in the Philippines and appeared to have become a crucial test of President Corazon Aquino’s credibility as a national leader.

Rebel leaders called off a meeting at which a cease-fire agreement with the government was to have been signed, and thousands of students and leftists marched through Manila’s streets demanding justice in Thursday’s slaying of Olalia.

The rebels, in a letter to the president, blamed Olalia’s killing on elements supporting Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile. They described the murder as the latest step in an “escalating campaign of fear, hatred and dissension” aimed at “scuttling the peace talks.”

The National Democratic Front, the rebel organization, called on Aquino to dismiss Enrile, but at a news conference later in the day, she flatly rejected the idea.

Reward Offer Extended

Aquino, who along with several Cabinet ministers visited the funeral chapel where Olalia’s body was taken, promised to “relentlessly pursue” every lead in the killing. The government offered a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the slayers’ arrest.

Officials investigating the killing said they have no suspects.

The president made no comment Friday on the disruption of the peace talks. But interviews this week with rebel negotiators have made it clear that the cancellation of Friday’s meeting was a major setback in the government’s effort to end the 17-year insurgency. Many leftist leaders said they doubt that Aquino was ever sincere about finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.

How to Define Hostilities

Before the Olalia killing, the two sides were on the verge of a truce agreement. The only obstacle was the definition of “a hostile act” that would constitute a cease-fire violation. The military wanted to ban forced taxation by the rebels during the cease-fire; the rebels wanted to ban all government arms purchases and forced evacuation of villages.

The chief government negotiator, Agriculture Minister Ramon Mitra, had described the hostile-act issue as “a fine point easily resolved,” and it was he who said that an agreement would be signed Friday, after four months of talks.

But on Friday, Mitra conceded to reporters that the cancellation proves that the rebels have doubts about the government’s sincerity.

The rebels’ letter, signed by Saturnino Ocampo, said: “We are clinging to the remaining shreds of hope that together, as fellow countrymen, we can bring about a principled peace. We shall find it less and less possible to pursue that chance of finding a negotiated solution to our tragic civil war, unless your side is able to obtain a working consensus.”

Personal Security at Stake

Alan Jazmines, general secretary of the leftist People’s Party and one of the leaders of Friday’s protest rally, said that the rebels will now “begin to wonder whether they can go around freely, considering that they belong to an illegal organization. Olalia (was) a legal person, and look what they did to him. If President Aquino cannot make them feel secure, they will not talk.”

The estimated 4,000 student demonstrators chanted, “Enrile, resign,” outside Camp Aguinaldo, the military base where the defense minister maintains his office.

Standing nearby, Fermo Tripon, a Manila businessman and leftist politician, said the killing “is going to erode President Aquino’s credibility because I don’t think she can come up with any suspects.”

Olalia’s labor federation, the May 1st Movement, said in a statement read to reporters Friday that “we believe that the Aquino government is partly responsible for what is happening.”

General Shutdown Threatened

Union leaders called the investigation into the killing “an acid test,” and promised to carry out a general strike next week in Manila. The May 1st Movement is said to control about 600,000 workers, but sources said it is not likely to mobilize more than 50,000 for a strike.

“Frankly, we’re not prepared,” conceded Leandro Alejandro, a leader of the leftist alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, of which the May 1st Movement is the largest faction. “We had not planned a general strike until 1988.”

Still, Alejandro said, participation in the planned strike might be much larger than expected because Olalia’s killing is likely to attract many new workers.

Alejandro said the murder was related to Aquino’s efforts last week to thwart a coup planned by Enrile. He said he believes that Aquino averted the coup by striking a deal with Enrile that gave the defense minister more of a free hand to fight the Communists.

‘Free Hand’ for Enrile

“This is just a signal of the free hand that has been given to the military to clean up the Reds,” he said. “I do not see (Aquino) as trying to hold back the military from continuing all the military abuses and killings.”

Aquino said in her statement Friday that the government will track down and punish Olalia’s killers, “whatever the political cost.”

She called the killing “a ruthless act,” and recalled her grief over the assassination, in 1983, of her husband, Benigno S. Aquino Jr. She appealed to the nation to let justice follow its course before taking to the streets.

Real Test for Regime

Aquino declined to answer questions from the press. But Justice Minister Neptali Gonzales conceded that the investigation into the Olalia killing will test the Aquino government.

He said it is aware that the killing will cause a backlash from the political left, and added: “There is no question that this will have an effect, but we believe this effect will be temporary. . . . The government will do everything in its power to bring to justice the people responsible.”

Then he said, “What will really make the situation serious is if it is perceived by the people that the government is doing nothing.”