This is a contributed video of some of the highlights of the Philippine celebration of the 15th anniversary of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) and the launching of Prof. Jose Ma. Sison’s latest book “Building People’s Power” held on May 28, 2016.
The event was upbeat on the prospects of peace talks with the government under incoming president Rodrigo Duterte. Read more
THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FRONT OF THE PHILIPPINES (NDFP) dared President Benigno Aquino III to ask his peace adviser Teresita Deles and political adviser Ronald Llamas why he did not receive reports on the informal talks between his government and the revolutionary group.
Asked to respond to a Philippine Daily Inquirer article published today that quoted Aquino saying he did not formally receive the reports, NDFP negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said Aquino should ask his advisers about the informal talks that happened in 2012 and not in 2011.
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THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FRONT OF THE PHILIPPINES (NDFP) will push for the revitalization of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) for its Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) with the government of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) under the Rodrigo Duterte government.
As the NDFP waits for representatives of president-elect Duterte to visit its international office in Utrecht, The Netherlands, its spokesperson said that they want the JMC to be both revitalized and re-strengthened.
(Photo by Bulatlat.com)
Former justice secretary Silvestre Bello III is “greatly honored” to again be the Philippine government’s chief negotiator with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
While clarifying that he still needs to be formally notified by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Bello said that he is keen on accepting the challenge again to talk peace with the NDFP.
Bello said that the congratulatory messages that he has been receiving since Duterte made the announcement in Davao City this afternoon are still premature.
“I still have to ask our future president the extent of power he will grant the new government negotiating panel,” Bello said.
Critical of the Benigno Aquino government’s peace negotiations style with the NDFP, Bello said he will push for honoring signed agreements between the Manila government and the rebel groups.
“Who would seriously negotiate with us if we fail to honor our commitments?” Bello asked.
Aquino’s peace adviser Teresita Deles called The Hague Joint Declaration (THJD) that laid the parameters of the peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Manila government as a “document of perpetual division.”
Deles also taunted the NDFP whenever the latter demanded the release of its peace consultants under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees or Jasig.
Both THJD and Jasig were milestone agreements hammered with Bello as key member of the government panels under former President Fidel Ramos.
“I think President Aquino was only interested in negotiating with Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He did not have the same vigor in dealing with the NDFP,” Bello said.
Bello also said that he will push for the release of NDFP peace consultants.
“If it can be established that they are involved in the negotiations either as consultants, staff or security personnel, they should be released under the Jasig,” Bello said.
Bello said he is thinking of asking former Commission on Elections commissioner Rene Sarmiento, former Alaminos mayor Hernani Braganza and Atty Sedfrey Candelaria of the Ateneo de Manila University to join him as negotiating panel members.
NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison welcomed Duterte’s reappointment of Bello as chief negotiator.
“I think that Bebot Bello is an excellent choice of the (incoming) President as chief negotiator with the NDFP,” Sison said.
“We know him because we worked with him in producing major agreements, especially the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (Carhrihl),” Sison added.
Sison said that the NDFP welcomes Bello’s statement that all the existing agreements must be respected and the possible release of all the 562 political prisoners who have been imprisoned on false charges of common crimes.
The rebel leader also commended Bello in seeking from the president (Duterte) the widest latitude for the success of the peace negotiations.
Asked to comment on possible panel members Bello mentioned, Sison said that it is up to him to compose his panel.
“He has mentioned highly qualified prospects,” Sison said of Sarmiento, Braganza and Candelaria.
Bello said that he hopes that the root causes of the armed conflict will again be addressed in the negotiations.
“Being able to sign agreements with the NDFP is one thing, but real success would come only when our people’s extreme poverty and the perception that our government is corrupt are eliminated,” Bello said. (Raymund B Villanueva)