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CPP says no to ‘pretend talks’ with LGUs

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) slammed Malacañan’s announcement of an executive order for localized peace negotiations, calling the scheme “pretend talks.”

After local National Democratic Front formations have rejected peace negotiations with local government officials, the CPP itself strongly spurned the offer, saying President Duterte will only use these to “pretend to want peace while actually waging total war against the people.”

Malacañang yesterday announced it will soon issue an executive order to pursue “localized peace talks” istead of formal negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) abroad.

“So-called localized peace talks are a sham, a waste of people’s money, and are doomed to fail. It is a worn-out psywar tactic to project victory to conceal the continuing failure of the AFP to suppress the people’s resistance and stem the steady growth of the NPA (New People’s Army),” the CPP said.

“The civil war will continue to rage despite local peace talks,” the group added.

Earlier, NDF-Panay and the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front issued statements rejecting localized peace talks between local revolutionary groups and the GRP.

Duterte’s “localized peace talks” dovetail with such corruption-riddled programs as the “balik-baril program,” the Comprehensive Local Integration Program and the recent surrender campaign, the CPP pointed out.

“Only local government officials and military field officers are happy with the ‘localized peace talks’, a money-making racket with hundreds of million of funds that will surely end up in their pockets,” the CPP in a statement Friday (June 13) said.

The underground party accused AFP field officers of being overzealous in their effort to conjure the illusion of “mass surrenderees” where hundreds of local residents are being rounded up in AFP-occupied villages and later misrepresented before the public as “surrenderees”.

“They have overdone their surrender campaign as they have declared close to 8,000 surrendered since January, after having claimed earlier this year that there are only 3,000 NPA members,” the CPP said.

The group added AFP’s are being funded directly by Malacañan.

“The Party declares that the [NPA] and all revolutionary forces are united under the Party’s central leadership and unequivocably support the Negotiating Panel of the NDFP in its representation of all revolutionary forces in negotiations with the GRP,” it said.

“Surely, this pretend ‘localized’ peace talks will not involve even a single genuine revolutionary force. Duterte will certainly be negotiating only with its own shadow,” the CPP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Revolutionary groups reject ‘local peace talks’ scheme

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The Rodrigo Duterte government will only find empty chairs across the negotiating table when it tries to hold so-called localized peace talks.

The National Democratic Front-Panay (NDF-Panay) and the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF) said they are rejecting government’s latest scheme.

“NDF-Panay and all revolutionary forces in the region totally reject any call for local peace talks with the local bureaucracy or any other entity blessed by the anti-peace liar and chief fascist representative of the ruling class in the country (Duterte),” Concha Araneta, NDF-Panay spokesperson, in a July 7 statement said.

Araneta said that not one region has been enticed and fooled by any reactionary regime to face the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) in the regional, provincial, city or municipal level in order to negotiate a comprehensive solution to the armed conflict.

“Time and again, this divisive scheme has been rejected by the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) and all NDFP forces and structures in the regions and provinces of the Philippines,” Araneta said.

Simon Naogsan, CPDF spokesperson, has also said their forces will not participate in any local peace talks with the government.

“Among us (Cordillerans), national oppression is perpetrated by the reactionary state ruled by big landlords, comprador bourgeoisie and US imperialism” Naogsan told The Philippine Star.

“We cannot expect these problems to be answered by local governments,” Naogsan explained, adding they will only support national peace negotiations.

Duterte order

Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a press briefing Thursday (July 12) said the government will allow local government officials to conduct peace talks with communist revolutionaries in their respective areas.

Roque said Duterte made the decision after meeting his Cabinet security, peace, and justice clusters as well as lawmakers and local government officials last July 11.

Roque said the guiding framework for localized peace talks will include the following:

* It will be nationally orchestrated, centrally directed and locally supervised and implemented.

* The constitutional integrity and sovereignty will not be compromised.

* Complete and genuine resolution of the local armed conflict; it shall cover the NPAs, organs of political power and Militia ng Bayan.

* If there is a ceasefire, the constitutional mandate of the state to protect public safety, civilian welfare, critical infrastructure and private properties and the guarantee of rule of law and order will not be compromised at all times.

* Government goodwill, full amnesty package based on disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration to the mainstream of society.

* The necessary enabling environment set by the President for the formal local talks to proceed are local venue, no coalition government or power-sharing, no revolutionary taxes, extortion, arson and violent activities and the fighters to remain in their pre-designated encampment areas.

* The substantive agenda will be based on the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan and Philippine Development Program 2040.

Roque also said that peace and livelihood packages may be offered to NPA surrenderers.

Really crazy

NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison dismissed Malacañan’s localized peace talks announcement.

“Duterte is really crazy. He wants to negotiate with his own shadow,” Sison said, adding so-called localized peace talks are an old discredited psychological warfare tactic.

Sison said that like reported fake surrender ceremonies using civilians and recycled surrenderers held by the military, local peace and order councils are money-making schemes for local politicians.

“This is a stupid waste of public money. It is a kind of racket, with the local political followers and military agents of Duterte pocketing the money for the fake surrenders [and localized peace talks],” Sison said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Oris: Many surrenderees AFP’s own

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The New People’s Army (NPA) hit at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for parading “thousands of fake surrenderees” nationwide.

In a video message, NPA National Operations Command spokesperson Jorge Madlos said many of those paraded by the AFP before President Rodrigo Duterte are in fact members of their own paramilitary forces or innocent civilians who were forced by the military to pose as surrenderees.

“When we checked, the (AFP) list includes 36 Lumad paramilitaries from Lianga (Surigao del Sur) who are also on the list of those who massacred three fellow Lumads in September 1 (2015),” Madlos said.

Madlos added that the 36 paramilitary troopers are being led by Calpet Egua who is reported to have been trained, armed, supported and protected by the Philippine Army.

“The AFP uses this paramilitary group as fake NPA surrenderees to clear their names as having been involved in the massacre,” Madlos said.

Madlos, also known by his nom de guerre as Ka Oris, said it adds insult to injury that the so-called surrenderees were given houses and lots as well as pocket money by Duterte in a ceremony in Malacañan Palace.

Madlos said that the AFP also picked up civilians who were later presented as surrenderees as well as those who have long left the NPA and have already been living as ordinary farmers.

“They were again picked up and recycled as new surrenderees,” Madlos said.

“Although, in fact, there were real surrenderees, such as the alleged National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Far South Mindanao spokesperson,” he added, referring to Nilo Legaspi and his wife who surrendered last January.

Madlos said real surrenderees are very few and were only mixed with thousands of fake surrenderees.

The five or ten surrenderees does not make for a mass surrender of NPA forces, Madlos said.

Both Duterte and the AFP have repeatedly said the NPA is down to a few thousands of fighters left.

Far from being defeated

In January, former AFP chief of staff Rey Guerrero said the military is committed to weaken by 50 percent the NPA, which he said has only about 3,700 fighters nationwide.

In its presentation of hundreds of surrenderees to Duterte, the AFP said the so-called surrenderees were part of 4,000 who recently abandoned armed struggle.

“These are indicators of growing discontent within their organizations, the success of our programs, and the cooperation between residents and local government units,” AFP spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a press conference last January.

Netizens, however, pointed out that the Duterte government in fact presented 300 more so-called surrendered members than the AFP’s claim of NPA’s 3,700 fighters.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in their 49th anniversary statement last March that the NPA has more than a hundred guerilla fronts with at least company sized formations in addition as many People’s Militia units all over the country.

The CPP also said that Duterte and the AFP are wasting public funds on fake surrenderees.

“Over the past few months, Duterte himself and the entire military and defence establishment have spent hundreds of millions of pesos to stage Malacañang dinners with the president, tours around Luneta and other cheap gimmickry. The bigger portion of the monies, of course, line the pockets of armed forces field officials,” the CPP said in a statement last March.

“If we are to believe claims made by officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at the end of 2017 that the NPA is down to 3,700 members, then by simple subtraction, one can conclude that the AFP under Duterte has already accomplished what the previous regimes have failed to do: defeat the NPA,” it added.

In a separate announcement, CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison said the NPA is nowhere near being defeated, being present in at least 73 of the country’s 81 provinces.

Sison added that NPA presence in these provinces “denotes the existence of the people´s militia and the self-defense units of the revolutionary mass organizations. These two layers of people´s defense are the auxiliary and reserve force of the NPA.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

 

NDFP could no longer negotiate with Duterte regime—Sison

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said they could no longer negotiate with a government headed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

In his strongest statement condemning Duterte’s repeated cancellation of formal talks yet, Sison said the Filipino people, especially the oppressed and exploited, cannot expect any benefit from negotiating with Duterte’s government, adding the president has broken so many promises related to the peace process.

“It is relatively easier and more productive for the NDFP to participate in the Oust-Duterte movement and to prepare for peace negotiations with the prospective administration that replaces the Duterte regime,” Sison said Thursday (June 28).

Sison said the Duterte regime is on record as having terminated the peace talks so many times that it is indubitably responsible for the termination of peace negotiations.

“It is therefore just for the revolutionary forces and the people to wage people´s war for national liberation and democracy,” Sison said.

Sison added that it would be well and good if Duterte withdraws finally from the peace negotiations with the NDFP.

But, in so doing, Duterte would deprive himself of the opportunity of creating false illusions that he is for peace, Sison said.

“He stands isolated and ripe for ouster by the broad united front of patriotic and democratic forces,” Sison said.

Duterte’s many lies

In a two part statement, Sison mentioned several promises broken by Duterte, including an unsolicited declaration on May 16, 2016 to amnesty and release all political prisoners.

Duterte only released 19 NDFP peace consultants in August 2016 to allow them to participate in the talks while about 520 NDFP-listed others remain in various detention facilities nationwide.

Duterte has also terminated the peace negotiations with the NDFP three times since May 2017, even fouling up every attempt to resume formal talks through back channel efforts, Sison said.

After terminating the peace negotiations for the third time in November and December 2017, Duterte issued Proclamation 360 to terminate the peace negotiations and Proclamation 374 to designate the CPP and NPA as terrorist organizations.

The Department of Justice subsequently filed a case before the Manila regional trial court (RTC) to seek the proscription of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA) and 600 individuals as terrorists.

“These are definitely obstacles to the resumption of peace negotiations with Duterte regime,” Sison said.

“Warm and cordial” start

NDFP’s negotiations with the Duterte government started well with the first two formal rounds of talks in Oslo, Norway described as “warm and cordial.”

Things turned sour, however, when a Philippine Army unit attacked an NPA camp in Arakan, North Cotabato in January 2017, killing an NPA fighter.

The attack came while the third round of formal talks just approved free land distribution as the centerpiece of a prospective agrarian reform and rural development agreement.

The five-month ceasefire in effect at the time, the longest between the NPA and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was subsequently cancelled by both parties.

The fourth round of formal talks in Noordwijk, The Netherlands in April 2017 was very nearly cancelled due to the insistence of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) negotiating panel to negotiate a bilateral ceasefire agreement before further negotiations on social and economic reforms can proceed.

GRP negotiators explained that a bilateral ceasefire agreement are goodwill measures that would provide a conducive atmosphere for the continuation of formal talks.

No fifth round of formal talks has yet pushed through despite the arrival of GRP negotiators in Noordwijk in May and  November 2017.

“The aforesaid actions of Duterte would have been enough bases for the NDFP to conclude that he is not at all interested in peace negotiations,” Sison said.

The CPP founder said the NDFP persevered and worked out a number of agreements with GRP representatives in back channel talks from March to June 2018, due in great part to the demands of peace advocates to remain on the negotiating table.

“The most important of these would have constituted the Interim Peace Agreement at the resumption of formal talks in Oslo from June 28 to 30,” Sison said.

The real reasons

Sison said the AFP and PNP’s wish to carry out to the end of 2018 their campaign plan to supposedly to finish off the NPA as well as to change the venue of peace talks to Manila are the real reasons why Duterte has canceled the resumption of peace talks in Oslo.

The change of venue is so that Duterte and the military can put the NDFP under their control, surveillance duress and manipulation, Sison said.

He said Ðuterte pretends to review in three months the entire process and all agreements in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations since 1992.

“By all indications, he will try to change the entire peace process and waste previous agreements. At any rate, he will try to impose on the NDFP changes that the NDFP will certainly reject,” he explained. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Only spoilers are happy with peace talks postponement—Bayan Muna

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Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate expressed dismay in the delay of the resumption of formal talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Reacting to Presidential Peace Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza’s announcement Thursday that the scheduled formal talks on June 28 is postponed by President Rodrigo Duterte, Zarate said the issue of public consultations can be addressed while the negotiations are ongoing.

“They should not be used as stumbling blocks or preconditions for the resumption of the negotiations,” Zarate said.

The progressive solon added the Filipino people have long supported the peace talks for a just and lasting peace.

“Indeed, addressing the root causes of the armed conflict like landlessness, oppression and exploitation, among others, will certainly get the continued support of the majority of Filipinos,” Zarate explained.

Meanwhile, defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted military and police authorities expressed concerns the New People’s Army will only use the resumption of the peace talks to strengthen their forces, media outfit Rappler reported.

Lorenzana confirmed this were among the issues GRP security forces raised when GRP negotiators briefed Duterte Wednesday, June 13, on the results of the four round of informal talks in The Netherlands.

“The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police) wholly support the President’s peace initiative. But they also raised the alarm that the peace process could be used by the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) to regroup and strengthen their mass base as they have done numerous times before,” Lorenzana told Rappler.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also said this was among the matters raised by security officials during the meeting, Rappler said.

Zarate, however, said such delays will only give “peace spoilers and saboteurs” longer time to sabotage the peace process.

“Resume the talks now. It is only those who benefit and profit from the current inequitable and unjust system will not support the peace talks and will do all they can to sabotage it,” Zarate said.# (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Joma says NDFP will follow stand down agreement if signed

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Jose Maria Sison said the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) will follow the terms of their prospective stand down agreement with Government of the Republic of Philippines (GRP) should both parties push through with its declaration on June 14.

Sison was reacting to the Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s statement that the military doubts the Reds would abide by the agreement.

“The stand down agreement creates a favorable atmosphere for the resumption of the formal peace negotiations and the interim peace agreement to be signed in Oslo, hopefully on June 28,” Sison explained.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported Friday that Lorenzana and Philippine Army Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno doubt communist guerrillas would respect any ceasefire ahead of the resumption of formal peace negotiations with the government.

The report quoted Lorenzana telling reporters during an Air Force forum at Camp Aguinaldo Thursday that it might only be the military that would follow a stand down agreement between the NDFP and the GRP.

“What does stand down mean anyway? We might stand down but they wouldn’t,” Lorenza said.

“Stand down means ‘cease operations.’ Stand down for them might mean there would be no attacks but we suspect they will continue their recruitment. They also have to stop that if there is a stand-down,” the Inquirer reported Lorenzana saying.

Lorenza said the rebels are actually intensifying their expansion of their areas.

In the past, however, NDFP negotiators have said their recruitment activities have nothing to do with the NPA’s military operations, which would be the subject of the prospective stand down agreement between the NDFP and GRP negotiating panels.

Peace saboteurs

Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate hit Lorenzana and the military for issuing statements that “spoil and sabotage the peace negotiations.”

“Stop monkey-wrenching the GRP-NDFP peace talks,” Zarate told Lorenzana and the military.

Zarate said Lorenzana and the military have been launching attacks against the peace process in all fronts but fail to put forward a paradigm that would effectively address the root causes of the armed conflict.

“Their default solution to the problem is still the US-prescribed combination of psychological warfare and military counter-insurgency operations that they have been doing for decades and have been proven to be a failure and a waste of lives and resources,” Zarate said.

Zarate said he calls on all peace advocates to be watchful of spoilers and saboteurs as the negotiating panels push for the forging a comprehensive agreements on socio-economic and political reforms.

“It would be best for the DND and the AFP to concentrate on the defense of the Philippines from China and the US that are now increasing their military activities in our territories instead of trying to sabotage the peace talks that can pave the way for a just and lasting peace and uplift the lives of majority of Filipinos,” Zarate said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

85th IBPA suffers casualties in Lopez ambush–NPA

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The New People’s Army (NPA) in Quezon said it ambushed troopers of the Philippine Army’s 85th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Cogorin Ibaba, Lopez, Quezon Monday night.

The NPA’s Apolonio Mendoza Command (NPA-AMC) said it ambushed 10 government soldiers on board a truck as well as their reinforcements in two separate fire fights.

While not giving an exact number, the guerrillas said they have confirmed casualties on the state forces while suffering no casualties of their own in the clashes that lasted about 20 minutes.

“The tactical offensive was part of the NPA’s defense of farmers’ communities under the red territory of the revolutionary movement,” the rebels said in Filipino.

“While the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) has opened a new window for the resumption of peace negotiations, its military continues to attack farmers communities, forcing the NPA to launch a counter attack,” NPA-AMC spokesperson Cleo del Mundo added.

Del Mundo said military operations terrorize civilians in the area that disobeys President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncements for the creation of an enabling environment before the resumption for formal negotiations between the GRP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

“In the past week alone, five barangays in three towns [in Bondoc Peninsula] have been militarized by at least a company-sized contingent of soldiers,” del Mundo said.

The rebel spokesperson said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) soldiers have descended on Barangays San Francisco B, San Miguel Dao, Veronica and Jongo in Lopez town, Cauayan in Gumaca town, and Bulagsong in Catanauan town.

Del Mundo explained that the farmers could no longer tend to their coconut farms and their farm animals since the AFP launched their military operations last week.

“The residents are also terrorized by the soldiers’ fake census that have resulted in fake surrender ceremonies in the past, as what happened in Barangay Jongo last February where 11 farmers who were paraded before Duterte in Malacañang came from,” del Mundo said.

The AFP website has no statement on the reported clash.

The NPA attack happened less than two weeks before both the NDFP and the GRP are supposed to jointly declare a “stand down” order for both the NPA on one hand and the AFP and the Philippine National Police on the other as a goodwill measure for the resumption of formal peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway.

The NDFP and the GRP are expected to approve an interim peace agreement that would include a coordinated unilateral ceasefire, a general amnesty declaration for about 520 NDFP-listed political prisoners and agrarian reform and rural development as well as national industrialization and economic development agreements at the end of the month.

The parties said the social and economic reform agreements are meant to address the root causes of the armed conflict between NDFP forces and the GRP. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

GRP forces take ‘hors de combat’ from hospital ICU

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[UPDATED] The Philippine National Police (PNP) arrested a badly-injured New People’s Army (NPA) leader from the intensive care unit (ICU) of a local hospital despite protests from paralegals and human rights workers.

In an urgent alert, human rights groups Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region and the Exodus for Justice and Peace said a combined force of PNP officers and military intelligence agents in civilian clothing have taken NPA’s 1st Pulang Bagani Company leader Elizalde Cañete to the Don Carlos Police Station at about 8:30 Monday evening.

“Zaldy Cañete, an hors de combat, who suffered traumatic head injury and presently recuperating at Don Carlos Doctors Hospital (DCDH) was taken by military and police elements around 6:48 tonight,” Karapatan-SMR’s alert said.

“PO3 Rico Manuel along with several military intelligence and police elements appeared and served an outdated warrant of arrest [against Cañete],” Karapatan added.

Cañete, identified by President Rodrigo Duterte himself as the successor of famed Southern Mindanao NPA leader Leoncio “Kumander Parago” Pitao, was injured in a battallion-sized military operation in Kitaotao, Bukidnon Province last month.

He suffered a bullet wound to the head that needed an 11-hour brain surgery and was still at the hospital’s ICU at the time of his arrest.

Cañete is reported to be suffering from memory loss and loss of speech resulting from his injuries.

“We contest this arrest, as Cañete is an hors de combat, a wounded combatant that should be tended first for his critical medical condition as stipulated under the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law) signed by the government and the NDF (National Democratic Front of the Philippines),” the EJP for its part said.

The EJP is a Church-based peace advocacy group that regularly serves as third party facilitator to the release of NPA prisoners of war.

Photos released by Karapatan SMR showed an obviously weak Cañete on a wheelchair surrounded by police officers in full battle gear inside the hospital.

Canete inside the Don Carlos (Bukidnon) jail facility. (Karapatan-SMR photo)

The group later posted photos of Cañete inside a jail facility and said he has been complaining of head pains since last night.

No doctor or health professional has been asked to check on Cañete’s condition since his arrest, Karaparan-SMR added,

Karapatan-SMR secretary general Jay Apiag said the PNP in Don Carlos along with the military under the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Battalion must be held liable should something untoward happen to Cañete under their custody.

Earlier, the NDFP called on the Duterte government to respect Cañete’s hors de combat status and release him as the NPA releases its POWs. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Threat of nationwide martial law still alive, Sison warns

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The threat of a nationwide martial law remains with President Rodrigo Duterte’s constitutional reform advisers seeking ways to make it easier for its declaration, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said.

Reacting to a news report that a series of attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA) may be grounds for the declaration of martial law under the government’s proposed federal charter, Sison said it is an indication that the threat continues to exist while Duterte is the president.

“Within the so-called Constitutional Commission, there is the drive of certain pro-Duterte elements headed by a retired general to draw up a draft federal charter that makes easier the declaration of martial law by citing ‘lawless violence’ or ‘a series of offensives by the NPA’ as the basis for the declaration of martial law,” Sison said in a statement.

Sison was referring to Ret. Lt. Gen. Ferdinand Bacobo, a charter change Consultative Committee member quoted in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report Wednesday that “lawless violence,” including NPA attacks that cause “widespread and extraordinary fear,” may be grounds for the President to declare martial law.

Saying such a move may not augur well for the resumption and success of the government’s peace negotiations with the NDFP, Sison said that instead of trying to scapegoat the NPA and make it the pretext for martial law declaration, state terrorism and fascist dictatorship, the Duterte regime should let its peace negotiations with the NDFP succeed in addressing the roots of the armed conflict and laying the ground for a just and lasting peace through comprehensive agreements on social, economic and political reforms.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) also said the proposal is dangerous, saying martial law should be considered as a drastic tool of last resort.

“In the first place, what is problematic is the absence of an objective standard for the conceptual meaning of what really constitutes terrorism or terrorist acts,” NUPL president Atty. Edre Olalia said.

“[L]awless violence can be addressed by the other powers like calling out the armed forces without suspending or compromising civilian rule, curtailing the exercise of basic rights, and denying legal remedies,” Olalia said.

Duterte’s Martial Law in Mindanao became a year old Wednesday, eight months after declaring it has driven the ISIS-inspired Maute group away from Marawi City. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP admonishes GRP on arrest of injured NPA leader, preemptive announcements

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) negotiating panel admonished the Rodrigo Duterte government on the arrest of New People’s Army (NPA) leader Elizalde Cañete while still recuperating from an 11-hour brain surgery in Bukidnon Province.

The NDFP said it views with great concern the arrest, saying the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) is under obligations to uphold their Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) under which hors de combat like Cañete should be afforded safeguards as regards to health, among other rights.

READ: Arrest try of injured Red commander humanitarian law violation, NPA says

The group issued a statement following reports that Cañete’s kin as well as human rights paralegals are being barred from visiting him at Don Carlos Memorial Hospital in Kitaotao Town where he is confined.

Human rights group Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region said Cañete’s relatives were also harassed by military intelligence agents under the 88th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.

Karapatan SMR also said that hospital nurses and medical attendants were told by high-ranking officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Cañete has been issued a warrant of arrest and is prevented from receiving relatives unless allowed by military and police authorities.

The group added Cañete’s family and paralegals are uncertain of Cañete’s health status as he is guarded heavily by combined elements of the PNP and AFP.

“We admonish the GRP to honor its commitments under CARHRIHL. Likewise, we warn the GRP that any harm done to Cañete can have adverse consequences to the efforts of both sides to resume the peace negotiations,” NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said in a statement.

Agcaoili added AFP and PNP’s disregard of Cañete’s rights can jeopardize the back-channel talks for making preparations for the resumption of the stalled peace talks that have already reached an advanced stage.

Backchannel

Earlier, the Communist Party of the Philippines also admonished the GRP for violating its agreement with the NDFP that unilateral statements will not be issued prior to actual agreements in the ongoing series of backchannel talks.

While saying it is looking forward to positive resolutions, the CPP said officials of the Duterte government should be more circumspect in issuing public statements or comments so as not to preempt the outcome of the informal talks and efforts to revive formal negotiations.

Earlier, The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said in a statement issued on Tuesday said that “[e]fforts to resume peace negotiations with the CPP/NPA/NDF are underway, with informal back-channel talks now taking place in Europe.”

OPAPP also announced it received positive results from the backchannel talks in Europe, the statement said.

The CPP however urged the media and the public to await official statements on the outcome of informal talks between representatives of the NDFP and the GRP.

NDFP chief political consultant Jose Ma. Sison echoed CPP’s statement, saying any announcement or statement on the ongoing backchannel talks must be co-signed and jointly issued by the GRP and the NDFP.

“The point is to avoid misundertandings and preemption of the outcome by any side at the expense of the other,” Sison told Kodao.

Sison added there is a strong trend towards resumption of formal talks within June, based on the fact that the back channelers are determined to put together a package of agreements on ceasefire, amnesty and release of all political prisoners.

He added that the signing of the Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ARRD) as well as National Industrialization and Economic Development (NIED) sections of the prospective social and economic reform agreement CASER may also constitute an Interim Peace Agreement.

“Bilateral teams are poised to finalize the common drafts of the ARRD and NIED for submission to the Reciprocal Working Committees on Social and Economic Reforms,” Sison said.

Sison added that one more round of back channel talks will wrap up everything for the resumption of formal talks. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)