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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)

 

 

 

Ilocos Sur wants Joma to grace bicentennial celebs next year

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The Provincial Board of Ilocos Sur Province invited National Democratic Front of the Philippines (GRP) Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison to grace the province’s bicentennial celebrations on February 2018.

In a resolution authored by Vice Governor Jerry Singson, seconded by member Pablito Sanidad Jr. and unanimously approved by other members last May 8, the board “humbly appeal(ed)” to Sison to “return to his home province and grace the Bicentennial Celebration of Ilocos Sur on February 2018.”

Sison was born and raised in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur.

“Being an extraordinary teacher, exceptional educator, renowned international lecturer and award-winning poet and writer, he is highly-acknowledged by the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur as a product of the province that carries the most beautiful mind that can influence diverse communities,” the resolution said.

Sison “deserves the most special seat in the chronicles of Ilocos Sur over the past 200 years,” it added.

The resolution also cited Sison’s experience as a youth leader and labor and land reform activist as well as founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“In 1986, he was recognized as one of the outstanding 200 Marxist theoreticians and revolutionary leaders since 1848 (by the) Biographical Dictionary of Marxism edited by Robert A. Gorman in London,” the resolution said.

The resolution also offered Ilocos Sur’s Bicentennial Celebrations as a possible venue for the signing of a peace agreement between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), citing government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III’s own roots in Santa town.

“Considering the same Ilocano blood flowing from (Sison and Bello)…the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur opens its doors for a historic opportunity of unification on the occasion of Ilocos Sur’s Bicentennial Anniversary Celebration,” the resolution said.

In his reply to the board, Sison said he is grateful and honored by the formal invitation.

“Please convey to Vice Governor Jerry Singson and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan my high respect and deep gratitude for the honor and appeal in the resolution,” Sison told Ilocos Sur Board Secretary Marlon Flavier Tagorda.

“In principle I accept the appeal.  We can consequently cooperate in realizing my return to our beloved province,” Sison said.

Previously, Sison signified interest in returning to the Philippines if he is named as a National Artist or when the NDFP and the GRP sign a final peace agreement.

GRP President Rodrigo Duterte has also repeatedly invited Sison to return home.

The Corazon Aquino government cancelled Sison’s GRP-issued passport in 1987 while he was on a lecture tour of European universities. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

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)

CPP: Still no refrain order from Duterte

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Has President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to stop its all-out war against the New People’s Army (NPA) yet?, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) asked Malacañan in a statement today.

Reacting to a statement yesterday by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella questioning the Left’s sincerity in resuming formal peace negotiations in light of recent clashes between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the NPA, the CPP asked the Duterte government if it would order its troops to stop attacks against the rebel guerrillas at all. Read more

‘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)

 

 

Peace group’s timeline shows how 5th round of talks failed to take off

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PEACE advocacy group Kapayapaan Campaign for a Just and Lasting Peace released a timeline chronicling events that led to the cancellation of the fifth round of formal talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) scheduled to be held last May 27 to June 1 in Noordwijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.

Established by civic and church groups in 2014 when the Benigno Aquino government refused to resume formal negotiations with the NDFP, Kapayapaan is an active campaigner for the continuation of the formal negotiations between the government and the Left. Read more

Duterte terminating peace talks, Joma says.

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AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands—The Rodrigo Duterte government is no longer interested and has practically terminated its peace negotiations with the Left, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said.

Replying to Duterte’s statements he is terminating the talks, Sison said the Manila government is now only bent on the surrender and pacification of the revolutionary forces and the people.

“It is not interested in social, economic and political reforms,” Sison said.

In his speech before soldiers in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay yesterday, Duterte said he is not keen on accepting NDFP’s offer for the NPA to fight with government troops against terror groups in Mindanao.

“I don’t know but I’m not so keen about it. Anyway, it’s a show of goodwill…It’s either we continue to talk about peace but we have to stop fighting,” Duterte said.

“I will not allow any talks on my behalf or ako kasi ang nandoon si Dureza pati si Bello. I will not allow them or authorize to go back to the negotiating table without them signing a document, unilateral kanila, they say that they would stop fighting,” he added.

In Malacañan last June 1, Duterte also said he terminated the negotiations.

“No more talks. And I have been saying it time and again, we have been fighting this war for 50 years. I’m asking now, the communists, are you ready to fight another 50 (years)?” Duterte said.

Duterte’s latest tirades came after his negotiating panel announced it “will not participate” in the fifth round of talks without a signed bilateral ceasefire agreement with the NDFP.

The GRP also demanded that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) rescind its order to the New People’s Army for more military operations against government troops in light of Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

The NDFP Negotiating Panel said the cancellation of the round was the decision and responsibility of its GRP counterpart.

“The GRP or Duterte cannot order the NDFP Negotiating Panel to just issue a unilateral ceasefire declaration without a panel-to-panel discussion on what the ceasefire declarations by both sides mean. He is now saying the NDFP should declare a ceasefire on its own, which is crazy,” Sison said.

“The revolutionary movement can never agree to a surrender and pacification scheme under the guise of a protracted and prolonged ceasefire that is one-sided and lays aside the demands of the people for social, economic and political reforms,” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)