National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales yesterday said the government is looking for ways to speed up peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade.

The RPA-ABB entered into a peace agreement with the government in December 2002 but its leaders have complained that government has been slow in delivering on its commitments under the pact.

Gonzales, who was in Bacolod City, said he had an entire team with him talking to the RPA-ABB to see how to speed things up.

Undersecretary Nabil Tan, deputy presidential adviser on the peace process, in his speech at the ongoing Local Peace and Security Assembly and Planta Centro Bacolod Hotel in Bacolod City, said the ceasefire between the government and the RPA-ABB is generally holding.

As part of the peace agreement, the government has provided millions of pesos worth of water pumps, livelihood programs and schools in RPA-ABB identified areas, he said.

Government has also helped reintegrate 128 alleged political offenders, he said.

Of the 315 political detainees identified by the RPA-ABB, he said 209 have been released, 102 still remain detained, and 4 are deceased.*CPG

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