A former peace negotiator who is this year's winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award on Wednesday expressed optimism about the outcome of peace talks between the Marcos administration and communist rebels.

Miriam Colonel-Ferrer, who led the talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) under the Aquino administration, said she was hopeful that peace negotiations under President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. could be more successful than his predecessor since he was “not as volatile”.

“In a way, I am more hopeful, probably because there are people around government. For example, Secretary (Carlito) Galvez did acknowledge the role of former AFP chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista in sort of doing the back channels and convincing the government, probably President, they should be given a try,” Ferrer told ANC.

“I think the management of this President is really to allow his lieutenants alter egos to do a good job without less interference…This President is not as volatile in terms of disposition as the previous president. Not sort of like resorting to violence verbally as well as in actual terms as the previous president. So there is a difference,” she added.

“So the context has changed. The security issue in the seas, that has been significant. Otherwise, when it comes to our political dynamics, we always see this kind of a fresh start coming in from when you have a new president…We’re moving into somewhat the midterm. In any case, there’s still somewhat that freshness coming from a different president. Especially from one that had really, really been hostile to the process,” she said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS