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Peace advocates commemorate The Hague Joint Declaration’s 25th signing anniversary

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Peace advocates are commemorating today the 25th anniversary of the signing of The Hague Joint Declaration as the framework of the peace negotiations between the Manila government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.

Lawmakers and legal luminaries, religious leaders, human rights activists and professionals in various fields as well as representatives of various sectors and the national minority groups camped out at the university are gathering at the university’s Asian Center for the event scheduled at two o’clock.

“At a time when the peace talks have been stalled or on the brink of termination, The Hague Declaration reminds us why there are peace talks in the first place,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes said in a statement

Signed in The Hague, the Netherlands on September 1, 1992, the agreement outlines the objective of peace negotiations as well as the substantive agenda that need to be negotiated to achieve “just and lasting peace.”

According to the declaration, the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP were intended to address the roots of the armed conflict by forging agreements on human rights and international humanitarian law, socio-economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms before the end of hostilities can take place.

The Hague Joint Declaration also laid down the sequence of the negotiations, starting with an agreement on respect for human rights and international humanitarian law, social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, and the cessation of hostilities and disposition of forces of both parties.

The Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law has been signed by the GRP and the NDFP last March 16, 1998, also in The Hague.

Considered to be a landmark document for peace negotiations all over the world, the declaration binds both the GRP and the NDFP to “mutually-acceptable principles, including national sovereignty, democracy and social justice, and no precondition whatsoever shall be made to negate the inherent character and purpose of the peace negotiations.”

‘Document of perpetual division’

The Gloria Arroyo, Benigno Aquino and Rodrigo Duterte governments have all reaffirmed The Hague Joint Declaration among other major peace agreements when these were seeking to restart formal peace negotiations with the NDFP.

The declaration, however, had been under consistently undermined by the GRP demanding ceasefires between the New People’s Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police before further discussions on social and political reforms as well as political and constitutional reforms may proceed.

While the NDFP consistently insisted the declaration must remain as the framework of the peace negotiations, the GRP has since adamantly demanded for ceasefires as “specific measures of goodwill and confidence-building” to “create a favourable climate” for the negotiations as stated in The Hague Joint Declaration.

Teresita Deles, peace adviser to both the Arroyo and Aquino, was reported to have said that The Hague Joint Declaration is “a document of perpetual division” while immediate past GRP panel head Alexander Padilla wanted a new track separate from the declaration.

While periodically agreeing to declaring ceasefires, the NDFP said these are just goodwill measures and are not preconditions to the holding of the talks.

The Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA said they had no choice but to cancel their unilateral ceasefire declaration following gross violations committed by GRP armed forces against the guerrillas and the civilian communities.

Continuing relevance

In his message, NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison said The Hague Joint Declaration and is still needed to guide the peace negotiations.

“[The declaration} give the two negotiating sides ample space to negotiate and make mutually satisfactory agreements for the benefit of the Filipino people,” Sison said.

The CPP founder said that with The Hague Joint Declaration as framework the possible outcome of the negotiations for a just and lasting peace can only consist of social, economic, political and constitutional reforms.

“The mutually satisfactory agreements can raise the level of national independence, democracy, and economic development through national industrialization and genuine land reform, social justice, expansion of social services, a patriotic, scientific and mass culture and education, national self defense and independent foreign policy,” Sison said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Herbert Bautista willing to help NDFP consultants

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Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista is willing to take cognizance of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants who may be rearrested after a government official threatened to have their bail bonds cancelled.

In a statement released through the Quezon City Public Information Office, Bautista said he is willing to help in any way possible to advance the peace process, including acting as guarantor for the continued freedom of Leftist peace negotiators.

Bautista is GRP peace adviser on local government units and is a member of the government panel’s reciprocal working committee on social and economic reforms.

“If we would be asked and such assistance would be allowed by the courts, we don’t see why not,” Bautista said.

Solicitor General Jose Calida last July 20 threatened to initiate petitions to have courts cancel the bail bonds of at least 18 Leftist negotiators freed last August 2016 after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the suspension of formal talks.

Church leaders, civil society groups and political leaders in the past have taken cognizance of NDFP consultants and other political detainees for humanitarian reasons or to allow them to participate in peace negotiations with the government.

“I personally hope that our NDFP counterparts shall not be ordered rearrested because I wish that formal negotiations will soon resume,” Bautista’s statement said.

“But should it come to that (bail bond cancellation), I will assist in whatever way I can because achieving peace is everyone’s responsibility,” he added.

The NDFP for its part praised Bautista’s statement, saying it shows the local executive is supportive of the continuation of the formal peace negotiations.

“If true, it is nice.  It is good that someone is standing up for the continuation of the talks,” NDFP Negotiating Panel Chairperson Fidel Agcaoili told Kodao Productions.

“What he said is praiseworthy,” NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison for his part said.

Earlier, NDFP Legal Adviser Edre Olalia said Calida’s threat to have majority of NDFP Peace Consultants rearrested is premature, adding there is no written formal notice of termination yet of the formal peace process.

“It is premature and precipitate. There is yet no written formal notice of termination properly addressed to the NDFP as mandatorily required by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), which is a solemn bilateral agreement that protects negotiators, consultants, staffers, security and other personnel of both Parties involved in the peace negotiations,” Olalia said.

Duterte’s threats to serve notice to the NDFP of the termination of formal peace talks did not push through last week, giving hope it will be revived in the future.

“I hope sobriety shall prevail in order to save the peace process and go back to the reasons why it must be pursued despite periodic challenges along the way,” Olalia said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP says GRP eagerly wanting to end talks

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili accused the Rodrigo Duterte government of wanting to end the peace negotiations after Malacañan cancelled the scheduled backchannel talks in Europe this weekend.

“The GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) seems so eager to terminate the peace negotiations even using the flimsiest of all excuses to cancel the backchannel talks,” Agcaoili said in a statement.

Agcaoili was reacting to Malacañan’s announcement yesterday cancelling the informal talks to resume formal peace negotiations citing as reason three separate incidents in North Cotatabo, Palawan and Surigao del Sur Wednesday reportedly involving the New People’s Army (NPA).

Sources told Kodao NDFP peace negotiators were about to fly to Oslo, Norway when informed of the cancellation.

“The situation on the ground necessary to provide the desired enabling environment for the conduct of peace negotiations are still not present up to his time,” Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said yesterday.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella for his part said the order to cancel the backchannel talks came directly from Duterte.

Agcaoili, however, reminded the GRP there is no ceasefire in place and clashes between the NPA and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are expected.

“The NDFP did not cancel the talks despite the killing of six NPA fighters and two civilians in Campostela Valley last 12 July and the massacre of a family in the same province a few days later,” Agcaoili said.

Agcaoili also accused the GRP of blatantly violating the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) when Solicitor General Jose Calida said Thursday he would ask for the cancellation of bail bonds and seek the arrest of NDFP consultants released last year for the peace talks.

“OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) will ask the courts to cancel all bail bonds of NDF Consultants, order their arrests, and recommit them to their detention facilities,” Calida said in his Twitter account.

“If the GRP is so determined to terminate the negotiations, it can avail of the pertinent provision in the JASIG to do so, and not engage in subterfuge and threats in an attempt to force the NDFP to capitulate to its demands,” Agcaoili retorted.

Agcaoili said the NDFP will not sign a ceasefire agreement with the GRP ahead of substantive agreements on social and economic as well as constitutional and political reforms.

“There cannot be any ceasefire without agreements on reforms! This is a matter of fact and of principle,” Agcaoili said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Activists score Malacañang’s cancellation of backchannel talks with Reds

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The peace talks must continue even under conditions of intense fighting between the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said in response to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ (GRP) cancellation of its scheduled backchannel talks with the the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. in a statement said the clashes between the NPA and the AFP today are additional reasons the peace talks must be held to find a way to stop the fighting.

“Insisting that the fighting stop before even the talks can proceed goes against the very nature of the talks. It puts the cart before the horse, so to speak,” Reyes said.

Reyes was reacting to Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza’s cancellation today of the scheduled backchannel talks between the GRP and the NDFP following an encounter between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) in Arakan, North Cotabato this morning.

“I am announcing the cancellation of backchannel talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front) originally set within the next few days in Europe due to recent developments involving attacks done by the NPAs,” Dureza in his Facebook said.

“The situation on the ground necessary to provide the desired enabling environment for the conduct of peace negotiations are still not present up to his time,” he added.

Aside from the Arakan clash where a paramilitary trooper was reportedly killed and three members of the Presidential Security Group were injured, two Marines were also reported killed by the NPA in the northern Palawan town of Roxas Wednesday morning.

Dureza announced early Wednesday morning that President Rodrigo Duterte instructed his peace negotiators led by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III last night to meet with the NDFP soon for the resumption of formal peace negotiations.

NDFP peace consultant Allan Jazmines, for his part, also told Kodao yesterday that NDFP and GRP negotiators are set to meet in Europe next week.

What about AFP attacks?

Reyes blamed the AFP and President Rodrigo Duterte’s Martial Law declaration in Mindanao for the increasing number of armed encounters in the regions.

“The AFP, under Martial Law, has carried military campaigns against communities not even related to the conflict in Marawi. There have (been) attacks on schools, displacement of civilians, extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests and other (human rights) violations,” Reyes said.

He added that the AFP has not stopped its all-out war against the NPA, accusing the AFP of not reciprocating the latest temporary cessation of armed offensives in Mindanao offered by the NDF last June 19 at the height of the Marawi crisis.

“More than the NPA attacks, it is martial law which has created the most negative effect on the talks. The President says that (martial law) is not intended against the NPA. However, the AFP has from the onset, used (martial law) against the NPA,” Reyes said.

“How could there be no fighting if such was the case? How can martial law not be a factor in the peace talks?” Reyes asked.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay also blamed Duterte’s martial law for the absence of the so-called conducive atmosphere for the continuation of formal peace negotiations.

“The imposition of martial law certainly worsened the climate for meaningful and substantive discussions in the peace process,” Palabay said.

Palabay said martial law in Mindanao is worsened by AFP’s all-out war policy throughout the country though the aerial bombing of communities in Luzon and Mindanao affecting thousands of civilians.

“With the backchannel talks cancelled by the GRP, and with the extension and even possible expansion of the scope of martial law hovering like a Damocles sword, the Filipino people, including the people of Mindanao, will face further unpeace,” she said.

Reyes said the Filipino people demand the peace talks to continue because of the urgent need to address the roots of the armed conflict through fundamental socio-economic reforms.

“What is at stake here is the prospect of a just peace. This is bigger than the ceasefire issue which we know to be always unstable if there are no basic reforms. The best way to secure peace is to move forward with the substantive (social and economic reforms) agenda,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva/Featured image from Reyes’ Facebook post)

 

Agrarian reform deal ready for NDFP-GRP approval

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A common draft on agrarian reform is ready for approval by The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) after three days of bilateral discussions by the parties’ reciprocal working committees on socio-economic reforms over the weekend.

NDFP peace consultant Allan Jazmines told a peace forum yesterday the parties met from Saturday to Monday to finalize a common draft on agrarian reform for approval by the parties when formal peace negotiations resume next month.

“The GRP committee responded positively to the NDFP committee’s draft and both worked on enhancing and polishing the document,” Jazmines said.

“When formal talks resume sometime next month, it should be ready for initializing by the NDFP and GRP panels,” he added.

Jazmines said that since agrarian reform is only a part of the prospective Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms, the document would only be “initialled” by the parties.

The NDFP and GRP announced their agreement to free land distribution to farmers during their third round of formal talks in Rome, Italy last January.

“Once initialled, the parties may already start implementing agrarian reform programs, such as the legislation of a genuine agrarian reform law by the GRP,” he added.

The working committees are now ready to move on to the rural development, national industrialization and economic development, social services and environmental protection agenda, Jazmines said.

“It may even be proposed that another meeting by the working committees should be held later this month,” he said.

GRP chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III did not make it to the forum after failing to get an early flight from Mindanao.

Bello attended an emergency meeting in Davao City Monday night, the Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum, organizers of the event, said.

5th round in Oslo

Jazmines said the fifth round of formal negotiations may be held from mid-August.

“There are no exact dates yet. We will know after panel members from both sides would meet later this month to finalize the details with the Royal Norwegian Government,” he said.

Jazmines said the next round would focus on the other items in the social and economic reforms agenda, as well as constitutional and political reforms.

“The parties are also expected to thresh out issues that led to the temporary suspension of formal negotiations,” he added.

Jazmines said the GRP may again propose the inclusion of ceasefire declarations in the agenda.

The NDFP for its part may also propose discussions on the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in relation to reported plans by GRP President Rodrigo Duterte to extend his martial law declaration in Mindanao to the end of the year, Jazmines said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva / Photo from Ruben Manahan III’s Facebook page)

 

 

 

UPDATED: Duterte pardons NDFP consultant, 9 others

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President Rodrigo Duterte granted pardon to 10 political prisoners including a National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant today, human rights group Karapatan announced.

Peace consultant Emeterio Antalan, along with Joel Ramada, Apolonio Barado, Jose Navarro, Generoso Rolida, Arnulfo Boates, Manolito Patricio, Josue Ungsod and Sonny Marbella were ordered released today from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), Karapatan said.

The pardon came after Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III recently announced they are conducting informal meetings with the NDFP for the possible resumption of formal negotiations in August.

Upon his election in May 2016, Duterte promised to release all political prisoners in a bid to revive the peace negotiations with the NDFP.

He released 19 NDFP consultants in August last year in time for the first round of formal negotiations in Oslo, Norway.

The presidential pardon of the 10 political detainees today is his second release of political prisoners.

Antalan was convicted with fellow NDFP consultant Leopoldo Caloza of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2015 by the Benigno Aquino administration with no possibility of parole.

A source told Kodao the pardoned detainees were released from their jail cells at four o’clock in the afternoon.

Karapatan volunteers are still on their way to NBP to fetch them as of posting time.

Too few, too late

NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili, however, said the release of the 10 prisoners is “too few and too late.”

“It is just a fraction of the 409 political prisoners still in detention whose liberty was supposed to have been given through general amnesty as offered by PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) on 16 May 2016 as part of the package to resume the peace negotiations with the NDFP,” Agcaoili told Kodao.

Agcaoili said the release of the 10 through pardon was in fact volunteered by the GRP Panel for the Christmas season last December.

“It took more than six months for that voluntary offer to happen,” Agcaoili complained.

“This manifests the regime’s total lack of empathy and concern for the plight of political prisoners who are/have been in prison for trumped up charges in violation of the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law),” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva / Featured image from Karapatan)

Bello announces possible resumption of talks in August

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Formal peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) may resume on the second or third week of August, government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III said.

In a Malacañan press briefing today, Bello said he met Sunday night with NDFP counterpart Fidel Agcaoili that resulted in an “initial understanding” the cancelled fifth round of talks will probably be realized next month.

Bello said the possible resumption of the talks has the blessings of GRP President Rodrigo Duterte.

He added that the fifth round of talks would focus on socioeconomic reforms.

The parties’ reciprocal working committees on socioeconomic reforms were supposed to submit new agreements to the negotiating panels at the cancelled fifth round in The Netherlands last May.

Bello also revealed that both parties have agreed to hold an informal meeting on the third or last week of this month but have yet to decide if it would be held in Japan, Hong Kong or the Philippines.

“The parties will have an informal meeting so that come August, it (the agenda) would already be clear. And (the reciprocal working committee agreements) will only be for submission for the formal approval of the panels,” Bello said.

Interim unilateral ceasefire

Bello also said the informal talks this month and the fifth round of formal talks in August may also tackle the issue of an interim unilateral ceasefire in a bid to create a more conducive atmosphere during the talks.

“It’s possible. Yun nga ang sinabi ko that informal meeting by the end of July we will be discussing interim unilateral ceasefire separately signed by both parties,” Bello said.

Bello said there are still issues that need to be resolved before a ceasefire could be agreed upon, such as the question of having adjudicators in case of ceasefire violations.

“One of the issues there would be, ‘Who would be the referee?’ Kung halimbawang may violations, saan ka tatakbo?” Bello said.

“It could be a joint monitoring team of the ceasefire,” he added.

Bello said the interim unilateral ceasefire could be in effect until a bilateral ceasefire is agreed upon.

Lorenzana says no

Bello’s announcement, however, runs counter to national defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s recommendation to the GRP panel not to resume formal peace negotiations with the NDFP just yet.

Lorenzana said he has recommended to the GRP panel to stop talking to the NDFP if they continue their attacks against government forces and alleged extortion activities, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) reported yesterday.

“I, for one, have already been talking with the GRP panel if it’s possible to stop talking for a while with the CPP as long as they can’t control the NPAs who conduct extortion activities, burning of private properties, and kidnappings,” the PDI report quoted Lorenzana saying.

In response to a question at the Malacañan press briefing today, however, Bello said NPA attacks are part of the armed conflict.

“The reality is that there is an existing armed conflict.  That is the reason why we are talking to end the armed conflict. So habang nag-uusap tayo, we expect some skirmishes once in a while,” Bello said.

The parties’ last unilateral ceasefire declarations from August of last year to February this year have been the longest truce in the history of the armed conflict between the GRP and the NDFP.

It unraveled, however, when GRP troops belonging to the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army attacked a NPA encampment in Makilala, North Cotabato last January while the third round of formal talks was ongoing in Rome, Italy.

Before the Makilala attack, the NDFP has already accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines of further militarizing indigenous peoples and peasant communities that contributed to the decision of the Communist Party of the Philippines to suspend its unilateral ceasefire declaration by early February.

Meanwhile, the NDFP have yet to comment on Bello’s announcement. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP consigns JASIG list with 3rd Party Depository

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has again deposited for safekeeping with a Third Party Depository its list of peace negotiators and consultants immune from arrest and surveillance, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) announced.

Through its website, the OPAPP said the NDFP list of Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG)-protected consultants and staff was placed in a safety deposit box under the guardianship of the Third Party Depository, Archbishop Joris August Odilius Ludovicus Vercammen of the Old Catholic Church of The Netherlands.

GRP peace panel members Angela Librado-Trinidad and Hernani Braganza and Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Jamie Ledda were on hand during the event, the announcement said.

NDFP Negotiating Panel chairperson Fidel Agcaoili confirmed two GRP panel members were present in the July 12 event.

The deposit is part of JASIG verification and process of validating the identities of persons using aliases in the list of JASIG-covered Document of Identification (DI) holders, the OPAPP announcement quoted Braganza.

“We have to be strict this time as we do not want a repeat of the July 2011 verification incident that almost resulted to the collapse of the peace negotiation,” he said.

In July 2011, a GRP-NDFP verification procedure failed to confirm the inclusion of an arrested rebel consultant in the original June 1996 list due to faulty decryption diskettes.

The NDFP panel said the decryption diskettes have been corrupted when Dutch authorities seized the diskettes and other materials during a raid at the NDFP International headquarters in August 2007.

More secure

The 2017 list, encrypted in Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash disks and backed up in a Security Drive (SD), contains photographs and the real identities of NDFP peace consultants who are still underground, the OPAPP said.

Also included in the list are rebel leaders who have already surfaced and are physically participating in the peace negotiations between the Philippine government (GRP) and the NDF, it added.

GRP panel chair Silvestre Bello issued Letters of Authority (LA) to the JASIG-covered rebel consultants they could present to police authorities and military in case they are held or arrested, the OPAPP said.

According to the JASIG, negotiators, consultants, staffers, security and other personnel who participate in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations are guaranteed free movement as well as “immunity from surveillance, harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation or any other similar punitive actions due to any involvement and participation in the peace negotiations.”

The NDFP has formally filed complaints with the Rodrigo Duterte government on the repeated surveillance of its peace panel member Benito Tiamzon and consultant Wilma Austria in Metro Manila as well as alleged assassination threats against Mindanao-based consultants Alfredo Mapano and Porfirio Tuna.

GRP forces also arrested NDFP consultant Ariel Arbitrario in Davao City last February. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Iloilo not in Mindanao,’ Left tells Abella and Lorenzana

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) gave presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella and defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana a quick lesson in Philippine geography, reminding the two cabinet officials Iloilo is not part of Mindanao.

Following the secretaries’ denunciation of the New People’s Army (NPA) attack of the police station in Maasin, Iloilo last Sunday, the NDFP said Abella and Lorenzana’s statements were “baseless, unfair and unwarranted.”

“First of all, there is no ceasefire in place between the forces of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and NDFP in the Visayas and elsewhere in the country. What are in place are recommendatory gestures of goodwill by both Parties to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against each other’s forces in Mindanao,” the NDFP, through its chief peace negotiator Fidel Agcaoili, said in a statement.

“And Maasin, Iloilo is not in Mindanao,” the group added.

While acknowledging the NPA attack in Iloilo is not covered in the reciprocal directives issued by the NDFP and the Rodrigo Duterte government for their respective armed forces to refrain from offensive operations in Mindanao against each other, Abella in a press briefing in Malacañan today said it was nothing but an opportunistic act.

“Although the attack was not in Mindanao, the act was opportunistic in nature and disregards the nature of the NDF declaration,” Abella said.

“We ask the NDF to call on their armed comrades on the ground to walk the talk and to show genuine sincerity on the confidence-building measure initiated by the government and their side,” the presidential spokesperson added.

“Recent events have shown that the upper echelons of the communist movement do not have actual control of NPA units on the ground, which continue to commit atrocities even while their comrades talk peace with the government,” Lorenzana, for his part said in a press statement.

Jesus Dureza, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, however already clarified yesterday that the NPA raid in Maasin was not covered by the NDFP and GRP declarations.

“Since the latest statements of the National Democratic Front and the government to mutually refrain from taking offensive operations against each other cover only Mindanao, and since there is yet no mutually agreed bilateral ceasefire agreement in place nationwide, the NPA attack in Maasin, Iloilo and elsewhere must be dealt with accordingly and decisively by the AFP and the PNP with the cooperation of civilian agencies and the affected communities,” Dureza said.

Wreaking havoc in Mindanao

The NDFP said it is the Duterte government that does not have full control of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that is wreaking havoc among civilian communities in Mindanao.

“Last Sunday, 18 June, the day of the GRP reciprocal announcement to refrain from conducting offensive operations against the NPA in Mindanao, the AFP publicly announced that their forces had killed four NPA fighters, including an alleged NPA Front Secretary, in three separate military operations conducted by the 67th Infantry Battalion, the 104th Division Reconnaissance Company and the 66th Infantry Battalion in the towns of Cateel and Banaybanay in Davao Oriental and the town of Pantukan in Compostela Valley,” the NDFP said.

The group added that teachers and students of a Lumad school in Kapalong, Davao del Norte, another province in Mindanao, have been prevented from holding classes by the military under the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) and the Alamara paramilitary group yesterday.

The NDFP said EastMinCom and the Alamara threatened to shoot the teachers and students should they return to their communities to attend their school.

“These brazen violations of the GRP’s own pronouncement to refrain from offensive operations against the people and revolutionary forces in Mindanao clearly manifest the need for the GRP to put words into actual deeds and eschew public relations gimmicks in the pursuit of a just and lasting peace in the country through agreements on social, economic and political reforms,” the NDFP said.

The group said it stands by its June 17 statement recommending to the CPP to order all other NPA units in Mindanao to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against the AFP and Philippine National Police to enable all forces to concentrate against terror groups.

“Any suggestions to the contrary or accusations of bad faith are uncalled for, especially at this sensitive time when the two Parties are about to cooperate, in coordination with the Royal Norwegian Government (RNG), in the preparations to resume the 5th round of formal talks, which have been stalled by the martial law declaration in Mindanao,” the NDFP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Panels may resume talks in August; GRP commits to no offensives vs NPA

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Stalled formal peace negotiations between the Duterte government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) may resume in August, sources told Kodao Productions.

Following exchanges of “friendly” statements after Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) negotiators backed off from the scheduled fifth round of talks in The Netherlands last month, back-channel talks are reportedly ongoing in a bid to resume the talks in about two months.

“There is a possibility that the talks will be held in August,” a source involved in the negotiations said.

In his weekly Philippine Star column yesterday, NDFP independent observer and former chief negotiator Satur Ocampo wrote that both parties have agreed to resume the talks, adding the panels may issue their respective statements soon.

“A few days ago, it was learned that, through back channel talks, members of the two panels had resolved certain actual or perceived hindrances and agreed to continue the disrupted fifth round of negotiations within two months,” Ocampo reported.

He added that NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison already broke the “good news” in an interview with ANC Wednesday morning.

“He (Sison) said statements on the points of agreement arrived at during the back-channel talks can be expected to be officially issued separately by the panels,” Ocampo added.

No offensive operations

In a statement today, GRP chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III declared that the Philippine government will not launch offensive operations against the New People’s Army (NPA) in response to the NDFP’s recommendation to the Communist Party of the Philippines to refrain from attacking the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police while the battle in Marawi City is ongoing.

“The Philippine government hereby correspondingly reciprocates with the same declaration of not undertaking offensive operations against the New People’s Army to pave way for the eventual signing of a mutually agreed bilateral ceasefire agreement and agreements on social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and end of hostilities and disposition of forces towards a just and lasting peace,” Bello said.

Yesterday, the NDFP said it has already instructed its allied organization, the Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization (MRLO), inside Marawi City to assume home defense tasks against the Maute, Abu Sayyaf and AKP groups.

It added the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has also directed units of the New People’s Army (NPA) close to Marawi City to redeploy for the purpose of mopping up, holding and blocking operations, if necessary.

“For all forces to be able to concentrate against Maute, Abu Sayyaf and AKP groups, the NDFP has recommended to the CPP to order all other NPA units in Mindanao to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP), provided that the GRP order the AFP and PNP likewise to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against the NPA and people’s militia,” the NDFP said.

Bello said the GRP welcomes NDFP’s support to the fight against the Maute, Abu Sayyaf and Ansar al-Khalifah groups and other terrorist organizations wreaking havoc in Marawi City and other parts of the country.

“These voluntary gestures and expressions from the NDF in solidarity with government against acts of terrorism augur well for the desired continuation of the stalled 5th round of peace talks as they provide, if sustained, the needed enabling environment favorable to moving the peace negotiations forward,” Bello said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)