Fidel V. Agcaoili
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
September 13, 2018

The Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) welcomes the passing of House Resolution 1803 by the House Special Committee on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity on September 12, 2018 that urged President Duterte to resume the peace talks.

The resolution is a positive move by the committee members and contributes to calls of various other sectors and groups to continue the peace negotiations. We hope this welcome move by the House Special Committee can encourage President Duterte to go back to the negotiating table and work towards a just and lasting peace.

When Duterte unilaterally terminated the peace talks in November 2017, there were already significant advancements in the negotiations in the form of tentative agreements on the sections of agrarian reform and rural development and national industrialization and economic development of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER); coordinated unilateral ceasefire; and, amnesty of all political prisoners listed by the NDFP.

These agreements had been formulated and initialed by representatives of the GRP and NDFP during the monthly informal or back channel talks from March to June 2018 and were subject to finalization in the aborted fifth round of formal talks on June 28, 2018.

The NDFP is always open to resumption of peace negotiations in accordance with all signed agreements such as The Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantee (JASIG), and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), without preconditions. ####