MOUNT DIWATA, Philippines: Communist rebels threatened more attacks Sunday despite looming peace talks with the Philippine government, as they marked the insurgency's 42nd anniversary by defiantly marching with their weapons in public view. Aside from targeting government forces, New People's Army guerrillas also threatened to step up attacks against mining companies, accusing them of destroying the environment and exploiting workers. “Despite the peace talks, we will go on with the revolt,” regional rebel spokesman Jorge Madlos told journalists in a farming village at the foothills of the Diwata mountain range in Surigao del Sur province. The government and the rebels have agreed to resume peace talks after six years in February, and chief government negotiator Alexander Padilla sounded optimistic early this week, citing promises by the new reformist president to address rebel concerns. Amid a Christmas ceasefire, about 80 young guerrillas marched in public through this rice-growing village, brandishing M16 assault rifles, grenade launchers and other weapons to celebrate the Dec. 26, 1968, founding of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines. Since assuming office in June, President Benigno Aquino III has begun tackling pervasive government corruption and human rights violations blamed on state security forces that have helped breed the insurgency. The military, meanwhile, has softened its counterinsurgency strategy, which has been linked to extrajudicial killings of hundreds of left-wing activists and suspected rebel sympathizers. The new six-year program unveiled last week seeks to wean away civilian communities from the rebels and includes support of advocacy groups from outside the government in addressing human rights concerns.
