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CPP open to talks resumption when Duterte drops ceasefire demand

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said it remains open to the resumption of formal peace negotiations when President Rodrigo Duterte drops his demand for a bilateral ceasefire with the underground group.

In a statement, the CPP said it is open to peace negotiations with any regime, including Duterte’s, as long at is expresses willingness to seriously discuss the roots of the armed conflict as stipulated in The Hague Joint Declaration between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

“The NDFP-GRP peace negotiations can resume if Duterte will drop his earlier precondition of a bilateral ceasefire which became the single biggest factor which terminated the talks,” the CPP Information Bureau in a statement Tuesday said.

“The ball is still in Duterte’s hands,” the group added.

Duterte was quoted by news reports over the weekend saying he is open to resuming peace talks with the NDFP.

“If you (NDFP) want to resume the talks, I am not averse to the idea. But let me sort out first the other branches of government,” Duterte said after the CPP-led New People’s Army freed  its prisoner of war Senior Police Officer 2 George Rupinta in Compostela Province Friday.

The CPP said Duterte is resurrecting talks of peace negotiations as a damage control measure in the face increasing protests against human rights violations across the country and martial law in Mindanao.

The CPP is blaming Duterte for terminating the NDFP-GRP negotiations “because of his stubborn insistence to toe the US line of using peace talks as an instrument for the pacification and capitulation of the revolutionary forces.”

The group added that while they remain open to resuming peace negotiations with the GRP, they are not hopeful for substantive agreements as long as Duterte remains subservient to foreign interests.

“How can negotiations on socio-economic questions go anywhere when Duterte zealously implements neoliberal policies and pushes for such anti-people polices as the Compressed Work Week or 12-hour workday, removal of restrictions on foreign ownership of public utilities, debt-driven infratructure projects, and others?” the CPP asked.

The CPP also questioned the outcome of negotiations on political and constitutional reforms considering Duterte’s counter-insurgency program, including its aerial bombardment campaign in Marawi and other parts of the country.

“Duterte’s triple war (drug war, counter-insurgency and the Marawi crisis) violates the human rights agreement with impunity. He could not even fulfill his vow to release political prisoners now numbering more than 400,” the CPP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

As Duterte vacillates, NDFP perseveres on peace documents

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While President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to decide whether to resume formal peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) the Reds are hard at work on their draft documents on social and political as well as political and constitutional reforms.

NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison said the NDFP has encouraged its peace panel, its Reciprocal Working Committee on Social and Economic Reforms (RWC-SER) and its Reciprocal Working Group on Political and Constitutional Reforms (RWG-PCR) to continue their drafting work despite Duterte´s scuttling of the fifth round of formal talks last May.

“Indeed, the NDFP Negotiating Panel, the RWC-SER and RWG-PCR have continued their drafting work with the same dedication and enthusiasm as before,” Sison said.

Sison was reacting to Duterte’s statement Saturday that he is again open to resuming formal negotiations with the NDFP after the New People’s Army in Compostela Valley Province released prisoner of war (POW) Senior Police Officer 2 George Rupinta.

“If you (NDFP) want to resume the talks, I am not averse to the idea. But let me sort out first the other branches of government,” Duterte said said after meeting with the freed POW.

Sison said the NDFP consultants and experts who are working on the drafts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) and the Comprehensive Agreement on Political and Constitutional Reforms (CAPCR) do not wish to throw away the work they have done on account of Duterte’s withdrawal in the talks.

Sison said the NDFP peace panel is anticipating several possibilities in their ongoing work.

“The Duterte regime itself might in due time find it wise and necessary to resume formal peace talks or it cannot last long in power and it is replaced by a new leadership of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) that is willing to resume the peace negotiations,” he said.

In either case, Sison said the NDFP Negotiating Panel, its RWC-SER and its RWG-PCR cannot be disappointed with having worked hard to do serious research, public consultations and deliberations in order to produce the drafts they would consider worthy of the negotiations and the Filipino people.

Sison said the third possibility is that the Duterte or post-Duterte regime of the GRP is not interested in peace negotiations with the NDFP to address the roots of the armed conflict.

“Then the people’s democratic revolution through protracted people’s war simply proceeds until it overthrows the rotten ruling system,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

 

CPP dismisses Duterte’s demand for NPA surrender

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BANGKOK, Thailand–The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) dismissed President Rodrigo Duterte’s demand for the New People’s Army (NPA) to declare another ceasefire and for guerrillas to surrender and work for his government as paramilitaries.

In a statement Saturday, the CPP Information Bureau said Duterte’ demand for an NPA ceasefire as a precondition for the resumption of formal peace negotiations is unacceptable, adding the Armed Forces of the Philippines is conducting all-out war against their forces and civilians throughout the country.

“This is unacceptable. Does Duterte really take the revolutionary forces as fools?” the CPP asked.

In his speech on the 17th anniversary of Digos’ cityhood Friday, Duterte said there will be no talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) until the Reds declare a ceasefire.

“If you want to resume the peace talks, you declare ceasefire or nothing. And if you say you want another war, be my guest,” Duterte said.

Duterte cancelled the fifth round of formal peace negotiations between his government and the NDFP last May after the NDFP spurned his demand for another ceasefire “as a goodwill measure and create a favourable climate” for the negotiations.

The NDFP, however, said a ceasefire is unacceptable while Duterte is implementing a “triple war” through his so-called war on drugs called Operation Plan (Oplan) Double Barrel/Tokhang, counter-insurgency program called Oplan Kapayapaan, and martial law declaration in Mindanao.

“Duterte has lost all moral grounds to make such a demand. Recall that the NPA declared a ceasefire on August 19, 2016 which lasted for close to 160 days as a response to Duterte’s signed commitment to release around 500 political prisoners through an amnesty proclamation,” the CPP said.

“Duterte, however, wasted the goodwill of the NDFP when it failed to fulfil its commitment and took advantage of the NPA ceasefire to deploy his soldiers and conduct military offensives,” the group added.

No NPA capitulation

The CPP said NDFP-GRP negotiations will no longer be fruitful while Duterte demands NPA capitulation and surrender.

“Surrender. I will make you soldiers of this republic. Just CAFGU (Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit) for the moment,” Duterte in his speech said.

Duterte added there would be no preconditions for the surrender and promised to give them firearms and houses once they turn themselves in to a mayor or the military.

NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison scoffed at Duterte’s latest statement and said his former student has gone truly insane.

“He wants to convert surrendered NPAs into his soldiers? Duterte has truly gone insane,” Sison said in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Sison said that, early on, Duterte has been proven to be a liar and untrustworthy.

“The line has been drawn to separate, fight and overthrow the US-Duterte regime. Duterte would have a hard time to act convincing again,” Sison said.

More NPA offensives

The CPP said it is the people who clamor for the NPA to mount more and more tactical offensives.

“Victories of the people’s army inspire resistance amid widespread killings and the climate of fear imposed by the Duterte regime,” the CPP in its statement said.

“The NPA launches tactical offensive to bring to account the Duterte regime and its soldiers and police for thousands upon thousands of Oplan Tokhang killings, the successive killings of peasants, national minorities and youths, military occupation of civilian communities, aerial bombings and shelling, the near-genocidal war against the Maranaos of Marawi, arbitrary arrests and detention, and so on,” it added.

The CPP also dismissed Duterte’s threat to 50 more years of civil war.

“By the looks of it, Duterte may not even last his term. He has roused the anger of the Filipino people and caused his increasing isolation. The revolutionary movement will surely outlast the US-Duterte regime,” the CPP said.

“The Filipino people and their revolutionary forces have waged close to 50 years of people’s war. They do not tire. They are determined as ever to wage revolution because they seek to end the unbearable sufferings of workers and peasants under the oppressive and exploitative system,” it added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

 

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)

Agcaoili: Lorenzana set on ‘burning the house of President Duterte’

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“Militarists” in the Rodrigo Duterte government are on course to completely burning the house down, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said in reply to Department of National Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s statement that social and economic reforms are “completely unacceptable.”

NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said Lorenzana confirmed “beyond doubt” being an outright peace spoiler when the secretary openly opposed land reform and national industrialization in a statement Saturday.

“This pro-American relic of the Cold War truly believes that land reform and national industrialization are communist ideas! Wow! No more talks talaga kung ganun!” Agcaoili said.

In a statement Saturday, Lorenzana denied being a peace spoiler, adding he should be viewed as a “defender of the Filipino people” instead.

“Tungkulin ko pong ipagtanggol ang sambayanan sa mga katulad ng CPP/NPA na gustong magpairal ng sistemang maka-komunista,” he said.

Lorenzana said he is against any peace process “that is clearly is stacked against the government and favorable only to the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-NDFP).”

The Defense chief added the terms of the Comprehensive Agreement for Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) are “completely unacceptable even to a casual observer.”

Lorenzana failed to identify if he was referring to the NDFP or the Government of the Republic of the Philippines version of the CASER proposals being discussed before Duterte suspended formal negotiations.

Agcaoili said Lorenzana’s all out war solution, however, is purely fascism.

“With his fascist mindset, Gen. Lorenzana believes that there is no need of reforms in Philippine society – that anyone who disturbs the peace of the exploitative and oppressive rule of the big landlords and compradors supported by their imperialist masters, deserves to be run to the ground by the military with all the arsenal under its command,” Agcaoili said.

“Gen. Lorenzana has to wake up to the real world before he completely burns down the house of President Duterte,” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva/Featured photo by Viory Schellekens)

NDFP to ‘peace spoiler’ Lorenzana: Explain your failures instead

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It is Delfin Lorenzana who should explain where the Department of National Defense (DND) budget goes, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel said in response to the defense secretary’s allegation Thursday the NPA collects P1.2 billion in “revolutionary taxes” in Eastern Mindanao alone.

NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said while all taxes collected by the NPA are spent for services to the people and the communities, the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) budgets only go to corruption and used to kill civilians.

“Without confirming his allegation, what is Lorenzana complaining about? What about the P137.2B 2017 budget of the DND, where did the monies go? To line the pockets of the generals, military commanders and senior officials of the DND and AFP and towards the acquisition of military equipment used to kill civilians, bombard communities, destroying crops and houses and laying waste to Marawi, close schools and day care centers in Lumad communities, threaten and harass the people, etc?” Agcaoili asked.

“Yet, the AFP is unable to perform its principal duty of protecting and defending the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines against foreign aggression in the West Philippine Sea, including the Tubbataha reef,” Agcaoili added.

Lorenzana alleged Thursday at a forum in Makati City the NPA rakes in at least a billion pesos in so-called extortion activities in Eastern Mindanao that affects the course of doing business.

“The amount of money that the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) and the NPA are collecting from Eastern Mindanao alone is P1.2 billion a year,” Lorenzana told the Management Association of the Philippines.

Lorenzana also admitted he was the one who convinced President Rodrigo Duterte to stop peace negotiations with the NDFP.

Peace spoilers

Agcaoili said he is not surprised with Lorenzana’s admission.

“Since the time of (the late dictator Ferdinand) Marcos, the AFP has not gone back to the barracks, unable to accept the most basic of democratic principles – civilian supremacy over the military – and always threatening coups once the soldiers don’t get their way and terrorizing the people with guns and equipments that are paid for the taxpayers,” Agcaoili said.

“It is, in the words of President Duterte, a staunchly pro-American institution, unwilling to accept changes and reforms in Philippine society – the peace spoilers,” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Activists and Reds blame Duterte for Taguiwalo’s rejection

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The Commission on Appointments (CA) vote rejecting the appointment of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary Judy Taguiwalo immediately earned condemnation from progressive groups, which blamed President Rodrigo Duterte for allowing so-called vested interests to win yet again.

Minutes after the CA rejection was read at the Senate, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said vested interest won over good governance, pro-people polices and genuine service.

“This one is on Duterte as it is on the CA…The President could have asked his allies in Congress to confirm Judy yet he again chose to ‘bend the knee’ to pork barrel lawmakers, neoliberal economic managers and the militarists in his cabinet,” Reyes said.

“The rejection exposes the utter bankruptcy of the current ruling system and the reactionary character of the Duterte regime. He chose business-as-usual, reactionary politics over genuine change,” Reyes said in his Facebook post.

In a secret vote, at least 13 CA members comprising majority of the commission voted against Taguiwalo’s confirmation.

Pork barrel in the DSWD

Taguiwalo’s troubles with both houses of Congress began when she issued her Memorandum Circular 9 on August 6, 2016 clarifying that DSWD assistance to the poor shall no longer require “guarantee letters” from representatives and senators.

Lawmakers grilled Taguiwalo during the two 2017 DSWD budget hearings of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives last year, accusing her of trying to prevent them from helping the poor in their respective districts and sectors through DSWD services.

Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin claimed that congressmen were the first people that their constituents seek help from and that MC9 implied their guarantee letters were in violation of the Supreme Court ruling against pork barrel.

Negros Oriental Representative Arnulfo Teves challenged Taguiwalo whether it was the DSWD or the lawmakers who know the poor’s plight better, while House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Farinas threatened to drastically reduce DSWD’s proposed budget.

“We are not asking money from you. You are asking money from Congress. No budget can be spent on your programs without the (Congress) granting it,” Fariñas told Taguiwalo.

During her confirmation hearings, Taguiwalo was also repeatedly questioned about her past as a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines and joining the New People’s Army to fight the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship.

Taguiwalo said she will always be proud of her decision to go underground during Marcos’ martial rule.

Duterte’s militarist swing

But National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said CA’s rejection of Taguiwalo is actually part of Duterte’s increasing attack against the Left.

Expressing dismay over the negative vote, Sison said patriotic and progressive forces can expect more ultra-reactionary actions from the Duterte government.

Taguiwalo, along with Agrarian Reform secretary Rafael Mariano and National Anti-Poverty Commission lead convenor Liza Masa are NDFP nominees to the Duterte Cabinet.

“The rejection of the appointment of Judy Taguiwalo is one more sign that the Duterte regime is becoming more and more reactionary and servile to anti-national and anti-democratic interests,” Sison told Kodao in an online interview.

Sison said the development is in line with the increasingly militaristic track being implemented by Duterte, something both legal progressives and the underground revolutionary groups must prepare to fight.

“The revolutionary forces and people must deal with the fact that Duterte has junked the peace negotiations and is carrying out a single-minded policy of war, death and destruction. They must fight resolutely and fiercely against a brutal and fascist Marcos-type regime that scandalously operates like a Mafia syndicate of corrupt bureaucrats, drug lords and gangsters,” Sison warned.

Duterte’s former professor said attacks against progressives are in line with the all-out war policy which the President has carried out since the beginning of his administration under the counter-insurgency policies Oplan Bayanihan and Oplan Kapayapaan.

“All patriotic and progressive forces have to develop a broad united front against the puppet and reactionary US-Duterte regime,” Sison urged. # (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)

NPA’s Celso Minguez Command ambushes gov’t troops on the day fallen comrades are buried

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CASIGURAN, SORSOGON—On the day of the funeral of two of their fallen comrades, the Celso Minguez Command of the New People’s Army (NPA) ambushed a patrolling unit of the Philippine Army Monday, killing a lieutenant and a sergeant and wounding seven government troopers in neighboring Gubat town.

As thousands of family members and supporters were preparing for the five-kilometer funeral march for Andres “Ka Magno” Hubilla and Miguel “Ka Billy” Himor, the Red fighters waylaid a unit of the Philippine Army using a command-detonated explosive at past five o’clock in the morning in Barangay Casili, Gubat.

Sources said the injured troopers were rushed to Sorsogon Doctors Hospital but reporters were prevented from entering the facility.

Both the 9th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and the NPA have still to issue statements on the incident.

Units of the Philippine National Police set up checkpoints on roads leading to the site of the incident.

Hubilla and Himor, on the other hand, were buried at a private memorial park in downtown Casiguran after a long march led by red banners and streamers.

The caskets were borne on top of a flat-bed truck with honor guards standing on both sides as the march snaked around the town.

Activists and supporters from all over Sorsogon and the Bicol provinces joined the march, making the funeral the biggest seen by this town in decades.

Thousands of townsfolk also lined the streets as the funeral made its way to the cemetery, seemingly amazed at the banners of underground organizations being openly displayed.

In his homily during the funeral Mass, Monsignor Francisco Monje said Hubilla and Himor offered their lives in the service of the poor and should be remembered for selflessly offering their lives to bring genuine social change.

“Because we have all been promised change. But where is change? It is the likes of Andres and Miguel who give us alternatives for effecting change for the poor,” the priest said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP lawyer slams GRP Solgen’s threat to re-arrest peace consultants

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NDFP legal counsel Atty. Edre Olalia during the third round of formal talks in Rome, January 2017 (Photo: Kodao/Jon Bustamante)

A lawyer for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace panel said moves to cancel bail bonds of the peace consultants violates the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

In a legal opinion, Atty. Edre Olalia said Solicitor General Jose Calida’s move to have NDFP 18 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 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.

Olalia’s opinion was a reaction to Calida’s July 20 announcement his office will file a motion in court seeking to “cancel all bail bonds of NDFP consultants, order their arrest, and recommit them to their detention facilities.”
“They can now be arrested and recommitted to their respective detention facilities,” Calida added.

Olalia said there is no clear indication up to date that the Department of Justice — the principal and lead arm of the GRP prosecuting the assailed cases against the NDFP consultants — is moving for such cancellation of the bail bonds much less joining or concurring in the OSG unilateral move.

“Moving for the re-arrest of peace consultants by invoking GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) legal and judicial system is a circumvention and even violation of a solemn binding bilateral agreement (JASIG) entered into by the GRP,” Olalia said.

The lawyer added such move shall tie the hands and pre-empts the flexibility of President Rodrigo Duterte in negotiating with the NDFP.

Olalia said it is Duterte’s prerogative to eventually and ultimately resume talks or peace negotiations, notwithstanding his previous threat to formally terminate the talks.

The lawyer hopes 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.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)