Kodao Productions
May 27, 2017

NOORDWIJK AAN ZEE, The Netherlands—The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) announced they “would not proceed to participate” in the fifth round of formal peace negotiations until some conditions are met by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

“(We) will not proceed to participate in the scheduled fifth round of peace negotiations until such time as there are clear indications that an enabling environment conducive to achieving just and sustainable peace in the land through peace negotiations across this table shall prevail,” the GRP, through Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza, said.

Dureza cited the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) order to the New People’s Army (NPA) to further intensify its military operations against GRP forces as a “defiant, blatant and serious challenge to the Duterte administration” as a reason for their decision.

“We want the CPP to retract their directive to the NPA,” Dureza said.

The GRP also said they are “suggesting” to the NDFP that a bilateral ceasefire agreement is signed during the round.

This is the second time the GRP submitted to its counterpart a set of demands before a formal opening to a round of formal peace negotiations.

The fourth round of talks in this city last April was postponed by a day while the parties looked for ways to respond to President Rodrigo Duterte’s four “barest conditionalities”.

“Defense of the people”

The CPP earlier ordered the NPA to “defend the people” against a possible increase of human rights violations, especially after Duterte’s May 22 martial law declaration over the whole of Mindanao.

The CPP also reacted to National Defense secretary Delfin’s Lorenzana’s statement that the NPA was among the targets of Duterte’s martial law.

GRP chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III, however, said they have already “clarified that the NPA is not among the targets of Duterte’s martial law declaration.”

Lorenzana on Saturday, May 27, said the Armed Forces of the Philippines “will not specifically target” the NPA in the government’s martial law implementation in Mindanao.

Lorenzana issued the media statement a few hours before the scheduled opening of the fifth round of formal talks and in response to NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison’s call for the GRP and the NDFP forces to unite against terrorism.

5th round still possible

The NDFP through its spokesperson Luis Jalandoni said that should the fifth round of negotiations are cancelled, “the decision was made by the GRP.”

In an interview, Jalandoni said the GRP’s demand to the CPP is a new one and it was not included in their April 6 Joint Statement that the fifth round of talks shall focus on the socio-economic reforms agenda.

He added that a signed bilateral ceasefire agreement also must only come after ground rules for its implementation have been forged by the parties.

“We are supposed to be talking while fighting like the parties have successfully done in the past, especially during the Ramos regime,” Jalandoni said.

NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said they are still trying to find ways for the 5th round to proceed but “will not be blackmailed into agreeing into a premature bilateral ceasefire agreement.”

GRP panel member Hernani Braganza said there is still hope for the round as long as both panels are in this city and are still willing to talk. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

National Democratic Front of the Philippines
26 May 2017

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) has clarified that the New People’s Army (NPA) is not a target of the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, contrary to an earlier statement by GRP DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, in the fight against terrorist groups such as the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf that are attempting to affiliate with the CIA-created ISIS or Daesh.

Such clarification is in accord with the message relayed to us by President Duterte when we met last 9 May in Malacañang that the fight against terrorist groups such as Maute and Abu Sayyaf should be a common concern of the GRP and NDFP.

In response to the GRP clarification, the NDFP has recommended to the National Executive Committee of the NDFP and, in effect, to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to reconsider its call for the intensification of offensives in Mindanao.

The NDFP is prepared to unite with the GRP in the fight against groups that are terrorist because they mainly target, terrorize and harm civilians. The scheduled fifth round of talks from 27 May to 1 June would be an opportune occasion to discuss such cooperation and coordination for the immediate benefit of the people.

In this regard, we urge the GRP to reconsider its martial law declaration in Mindanao and intention to impose it elsewhere because military rule, as our own history as a people has shown, will not solve the problems of the people in the social, economic and political spheres.

We hope that the scheduled round of talks would push through and be successful in this regard.

Reference:
Fidel Agcaoili
NDFP Panel Chairperson
Contact No: 0031641324348
May 26, 2017

Statement by Sowing the Seeds of Peace in Mindanao
Reposted from Davao Today
May. 25, 2017

Sowing the Seeds of Peace opposes the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao. Martial Law throws out the headways in the peace processes between the Philippine government, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Moro National Liberation Front, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The complexity of the Bangsamoro question has been emphasized anew with the eruption of the crisis in the Islamic City of Marawi, Lanao del Sur. The MILF had warned of the “radicalization” of Moro groups due to the Aquino government’s failure to ensure the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Militaries and governments in Europe and the United States are facing the specter of terrorism because these armed groups are the Frankensteins they have unleashed in their proxy wars for oil and resources.

Imposing Martial Law is a simplistic, militaristic, and an ahistorical approach to the persistence of the Bangsamoro problem. This Martial Law engineered by the triumvirate of Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, and AFP chief of staff Eduardo Ano are burning the haystack to find the needle. They purposely blur the lines between the Maute and Abu Sayaf groups from the rest of the Bangsamoro people to justify their continuing fascism in Moroland. They also put to waste the social investments of the legitimate Bangsamoro groups in the peace process.

It is simplistic because it takes away recognition of the social dimensions of the continuing oppression of the Bangsamoro and their search for genuine autonomy; it reduces it into a peace and order issue. It incites Islamophobia and anti-Moro hysteria instead of forging unity against terrorism. It is militaristic as it levels up all previous all-out war approaches since the time of President Joseph Estrada. Allowing civilians with licensed firearms to respond to perceived threats will let loose paramilitarism and vigilantism which claimed many lives in the ILAGA wars of the 1970s-80s. It is ahistorical because it fails to remember that the Bangsamoro armed resistance was fertilized by Martial Law itself as preluded by the Jabidah Massacre in 1968 and from there grew in scope and intensity.

The Marcosian Martial Law of 1972 and Martial Law circa 2017 are both founded on the military’s arrogation unto itself as the “protector of the people”. History repeats itself with this continuing delusion of the AFP. The Filipino people will never forget the fact that Marcos staged martial law through fake ambuscades and assassination attempts.

The “siege” of Marawi as a justification for Martial Law in Mindanao is no different from the Marcos-time martial law it is mimicking and which the President promises to be as “harsh.” The declaration of Martial law in Mindanao was based on flimsy grounds, as the AFP contradicts itself by its own claims. AFP chief of staff General Ano had said the actions of the 50-ish Abu Sayaf-Maute armed group was for diversion from an earlier armed raid on a terrorist leader. There was no clear invasion and rebellion, therefore, to justify this imposition as required by the Constitution.

On the peace talks with the NDFP, the imposition of Martial Law now appears to be Plan B or an override of the interim ceasefire to be tackled in the 5th round of negotiations in The Netherlands. Why else would the GRP need a ceasefire if Martial Law is already in place? Secretary Lorenzana had made it clear that Martial Law is not just after the Abu Sayaf-Maute group but is also aimed at the NPA problem. This goes against the peace talks’ rationale of addressing the roots of armed conflict. Additionally, Martial Law puts into serious doubt the implementation of a socio-economic reform package that may be signed. Social and economic reforms, like free land distribution, simply cannot take place in an environment where an armalite rifle hovers above a farmer’s head.

We urge the President to lift this declaration. We oppose its imposition on the whole nation.

Signed.

BISHOP FELIXBERTO CALANG SR. MA. LUZ MALLO, m.a.
Main Convenor Convenor

BISHOP MELZAR LABUNTOG SR. NOEMI P. DEGALA, SMSM
Convenor Convenor

BISHOP HAMUEL TEQUIS BISHOP MODESTO VILLASANTA
Convenor Convenor

BISHOP REDEEMER YANEZ REV. RECTO LARA BAGUIO
Convenor Convenor

13 May 2017/in News, Statements /
NDFP Media Office | Press release |
May 13, 2017

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) denounced a series of incidents involving a number of its consultants, saying these are flagrant violations of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). The JASIG, which was signed in 1995, provides all duly accredited NDFP consultants immunity from surveillance, harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation and “any other similar punitive actions due to any involvement or participation in the peace negotiations.” The guarantees extend to persons who assist them in the performance of their work in the peace talks.

NDFP panel chair Fidel Agcaoili cited the tailing of fellow panel member Benito Tiamzon and NDFP political consultant Wilma Tiamzon on Tuesday night after they visited Lapanday farm workers who were camped out at Mendiola. The Tiamzons were reportedly tailed by two men aboard an RS motorcycle with partial license plate number 2419. They tried to shake off their tail for about half an hour before deciding to return to the Mendiola camp out, from where friends and comrades helped them evade their pursuers. The Tiamzons noticed that the back rider was constantly talking to someone on his cellphone while tailing them.

At the camp out, witnesses observed the motorcyle riders following the Tiamzons mingling with the crowd. They were reportedly backed up by at least two other teams of two men each who also monitored the Tiamzon couple’s movements.

The Tiamzons had also just come from an audience with President Rodrigo Duterte at Malacañang the night they were followed.

It was the third JASIG violation reported by the Tiamzons. They were also tailed in March after their arrival from backchannel talks in The Netherlands. Earlier, suspected military agents had interrogated the driver of a rented car used by the Tiamzons upon their arrival last January from the third round of peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

Other NDFP consultants who have also complained of surveillance include Ruben Saluta, Concha Araneta, Tirso Alcantara, Ernesto Lorenzo and Kennedy Bangibang.
Agcaoili urged the GRP to look seriously into these incidents and take whatever measures are necessary, saying that they may have severe repercussions on the ongoing peace negotiations.

He moreover expressed “grave concern” about reports that the military in Northern Mindanao had issued shoot-to-kill orders against NDFP consultant Pedro Codaste and that the AFP Eastern Mindanao Command was planning to abduct Porferio Tuna, another Mindanao-based consultant.

Agcaoili also slammed the illegal arrest last Thursday evening of NDFP consultant ROMMEL SALINAS as another clear violation of JASIG. Salinas, who was arrested at a police checkpoint in Ozamiz City is the holder of Document of Identification Number ND 978453 under the name of Hermie Abella. He was arrested in the company of a bishop of the Philippine Independent Church and two others. ###

Reference:
Fidel Agcaoili
NDFP Panel Chairperson
Contact No. 0919-860-4324

By: Bobby M. Tuazon – Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:16 AM  April 21, 2017

In the dynamics of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the defense-military camp is as intractable as it has been since 1986. Growing into a political force since the Marcos era, the camp is a key player with which both the government and the NDFP negotiating panels lock horns.

On April 6, the two panels agreed in a joint communiqué in the Netherlands on the release of prisoners and on the frameworkn of a joint interim bilateral ceasefire. On the safe release of four prisoners of war of the New People’s Army, the Armed Forces of the Philippines rejected the NDFP’s request for a cessation of military operations—a move that goes against the government panel’s intent as a confidence-building measure. Since February, the NDFP request for a stop of military operations to facilitate the captives’ turnover had been denied.

The defense-military camp’s divergent position presages rough sailing for the peace talks that the negotiating panels have agreed to fast-track. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Año have backtracked from all-out support for President Duterte’s peace program to, quoting the AFP spokesman, batting for local peace talks—which is incompatible with the government panel’s national-level engagement. The two men tag the NDFP as “terrorist,” but the government is resolved to have the label removed by a foreign government.

Meanwhile, the defense-military camp has contradicted the President’s policy stance to end US war exercises in the country. Lorenzana said the exercises would just be scaled down to disaster and humanitarian missions. But last week, he said the Balikatan would proceed as scheduled next month in Ormoc to include antiterrorism exercises.

With Año heading the AFP, the defense-military camp’s clout extends from the Lorenzana-led Cabinet security and peace cluster, which includes as members former AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon, Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza and the interior secretary. In an ideal setup, both defense and national security are led by civilians to ensure balanced and objective policymaking and security strategy subject to presidential approval.

The dissonance posed by the defense-military camp is nothing new as it has held a hardline stance since 1986. The government’s negotiating tack often echoed the military line, which ranges from capitulation of the armed Left to local peace talks in a vain effort to split and weaken the NDFP. Military intransigence has contributed to the frequent scuttling of the peace talks.

The defense-military perspective is that the armed Left poses the main security threat. The military solution remains preeminent despite the inability to break the NPA’s backbone despite relentless US-backed anti-insurgency operations since 1969.

Trained in the war culture, the defense-military camp is least expected to discern the ramifications of the social, economic and political reforms being addressed by the peace process. Its myopic view of reform is limited to arms modernization and salary hikes, which the executive branch delivers without fail. Comprehensive socioeconomic reforms—a critical point in the peace talks—will abolish feudalism and industrialize the economy. This clashes with the military tradition of defending elements of the status quo, like landlordism, corporate greed, and other oligarchic interests that the peace process seeks to rectify.

The NDFP’s roadmap tries to meet the requirements of the peace process within Mr. Duterte’s term—an interim ceasefire, agreements on socioeconomic reforms and political and constitutional reforms, end of hostilities, and disposition of forces. Both panels see bright prospects of forging a lasting peace. But hope must be tested by some conditions, compromises, and flexibility. These include military institutional support for peace and setting the mechanisms to enforce a final peace accord amid the expected backlash from Congress, military groups, and elite forces.

Mass members of the military and police should also claim the peace process. Many of them are from low-income classes who will gain from the free land distribution, job-generating industries, and other institutional reforms guaranteed by a final peace agreement.

Bobby Tuazon is a policy analyst, peace advocate and book author.

Kodao Productions
4/19/2017

Here is a voice recording of Fidel Agcaoli, Chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel talking about the Joint Interim Ceasefire and its relation to the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER). He explained clearly the case for the benefit of those who are still confused. Hopefully this can help our listeners.

Listen to the audio clip below:

ILPS Web
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinatng Committee
April 19, 2017

The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) condemns the escalation of wars of aggression by the US on a wide range of theatres under the new US President, Donald Trump, very early in his presidency.

Before becoming president, Donald Trump called the war in Iraq as a “big, fat mistake” and vowed not to go into military misadventures abroad like Bush and Obama had done before him.

And yet only four months into his presidency, Donald Trump has already embarked on military misadventures abroad committing one war crime after another. In March alone, more than 1,000 civilians died as a result of air strikes by the so-called US-led Coalition in Iraq and Syria.

Barely a month after his inauguration, not satisfied with the aggression long carried out by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, Trump authorized the Navy SEALs to attack a village in Yemen killing an eight-year old girl and 24 other civilians including women and children. The operation complete with air strikes from helicopter gunships razed houses to the ground where families cowered in fear.

Trump bombed Yemen in just one week in March more than Obama had done in a year. Five million people in Yemen are on the verge of starvation because the US and its allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are blocking all land routes, airports and the coasts preventing food supplies from coming through. This is virtual genocide and a serious war crime that is largely being ignored by the western media.

Trump has escalated coalition air strikes in Iraq where a growing pattern of high civilian casualties has been reported. A bombing raid on March 27 in Mosul killed around 200 civilians. Amnesty International has charged the US military of failing to take the necessary precautions to prevent civilian deaths in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

Trump has approved the relaxing of the rules of engagement by the US military in Somalia that is bound to result in the increase of civilian casualties. The US has been conducting a shadow war against so-called Islamists since 2007 in the strategically-located country at the Horn of Africa using Ethiopia as proxy. Obama had regularly used drones from US bases in neighboring Djibouti to strike at al-Shabab militants.

On April 5, Trump ordered 59 Tomahawk missiles to be fired into a Syrian airbase based on a false pretext, killing scores of civilians in a nearby village. One month before that, US drones fired Hellfire missiles and dropped a bomb on a mosque in West Aleppo where 200 people were praying killing 40 and injuring another 120.

But there has not been an uproar in the UN and from the “international community” especially from the “civilized countries” of the West that are quick to condemn Assad of “war crimes” that he has not even committed. No attention has been paid to the evident false flag operation of the CIA-directed White Helmets and jihadists who simulated a chemical attack and murdered children in the process. Neither has there been concern about the US attacking a sovereign state, with a mutual defense treaty with the nuclear power Russia.

Trump approved the dropping of the most powerful non-nuclear bomb available in the US military arsenal on a complex of caves and tunnels in Afghanistan supposedly being used by ISIS terrorists. This is the first time that the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the “mother of all bombs,” has been used in combat. The bomb is capable of devastating the area around its landing of a radius of more than 1.6 km.

Trump praised the US military for a “very successful” mission. He further confirmed that he himself authorized the US military he called “the , greatest military in the world” to do their job. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai called it an “inhuman act, a brutal act against an innocent country, against innocent people, against our land, against our sovereignty, against our soil and against our future.”

Trump has boasted of sending what he calls an “armada” of battleships to intimidate the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and has threatened to make a preemptive nuclear strike against that country. The US Navy strike group is composed of the nuclear-powered flagship aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, two destroyers and a cruiser accompanied by submarines.

The DPRK has responded by saying that it is prepared to counter the US war provocations and has focused its nuclear sight not only on enemy bases in South Korea and the Pacific but also in the US mainland. It celebrated the 105th birthday anniversary by highlighting the people’s resistance to US imperialism and displaying the all-round achievements of the DPRK, including its nuclear capabilities for self-defense and deterrence.

Russia and China have dispatched intelligence-gathering vessels from their navies to chase the US Navy strike group to monitor the fleet’s movements and to send a clear warning to Washington against any precipitate action. Any kind of US aggression against the DPRK with the use of massive conventional or nuclear weapons has grave implications and consequences, especially to China, which has a treaty of mutual aid and cooperation with the DPRK and which would also suffer not only from nuclear fallout but also the flood of refugees from the DPRK.

Trump is now flagrantly running counter to his electoral campaign promise of avoiding the high cost of aggressive wars and making America First by reviving and protecting US manufacturing. His actions show that he is completely in the pockets of the military-industrial complex (in fact he is an investor in Raytheon missiles) and is pliant in the hands of the so-called deep state that is at the service of his own class, US monopoly bourgeoisie.

All these saber-rattling and bellicose actions coming from the US are not a sign of strength and confidence but of an imperialist power on a steep decline and in desperation in an increasingly multipolar world. Such a moribund imperialist power can become more reckless and aggressive in the use of naked force in a vain attempt to retain its hegemonic position.

In recent decades, after the end of the bipolar world of the Cold War, US imperialism has proven itself as the super-terrorist power, killing and wounding millions of people and destroying their homes, livelihood and social infrastructure. It has devastated countries in Eastern Europe (Yugoslavia), Central Asia (Afghanistan), the Middle-East (Iraq and Syria) and North Africa (Libya). It has subverted elected governments in Asia, Africa and Latin America, bullied small nations everywhere, destabilized whole continents and violated many of the universally accepted norms of conduct in international relations.

The ILPS condemns the imperialist policies and actions of the superterrorist US and its demagogic, deranged and destructive president. The US is culpable for the violation of the national sovereignty and democratic rights of peoples, the wanton plunder of their human and natural resources and the rise of state terrorism and imperialist wars of aggression. The ILPS calls on all its member-organizations, allies and the broad masses of the people of the world to fight and defeat US imperialism through various possible and necessary forms of revolutionary struggle. ###

www.ilps.info
04/09/2017

The Commission One of the International League of People’s Struggle condemns the Trump regime’s April 6 sneak attack on the Syrian Arab Republic. We call on all our chapters and member organizations in 43 countries to stand with the people of Syria against this deadly escalation of what has been a six-year proxy war by the US and its client states Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies,Turkey, Jordan and Israel against their country. We demand the immediate withdrawal of all US troops. planes, ships, weapons, contractors, mercenaries and spies from the soil, waters and air of Syria and from the all of West Asia and North Africa.

On the morning of Thursday, April 7, US missile warships launched 59 Tomahawk missiles against a Syrian air base, killing at least nine people, including six children. Twenty-three of the missiles landed in nearby villages. This escalation comes on the heels of the Trump regime’s dispatch of more US troops to Syria. It raises the prospect of direct confrontation between the United States and Russia, which has been assisting the elected Syrian government against US-Saudi-funded terrorist armies. The so-called Islamic State (Daesh) followed up the US air attack with an offensive against Syrian troops in the area.

The Trump regime claims it attacked Syria in “retaliation” for the gassing death of 69 civilians, including children, in the terrorist-occupied town of Khan Sheikoun. The gassing, which the US claims was done by the Syrian Air Force, allegedly horrified President Trump. The US air attack was praised by the vilest criminals and murderers on the face of the earth. This includes US Senators and congressmen who have voted for countless war crimes around the world in return for payoffs from the oil industry and the military-industrial complex. It includes Israel’s bloody-handed Prime Minister Netanyahu, the imperialist leaders of Britain and France, and the reactionary monarchies in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states.

So-called US government outrage over the deaths of civilians due to chemical weapons is hypocritical. Let us remember that the US is supplying the Saudi government with white phosphorous and other horror weapons it is raining down on the children of Yemen. US ships are helping the Saudi kingdom, the US war industry’s top paying customer, blockade and starve the people of Yemen. The US supplies the weapons of mass destruction the racist Israeli state has used to slaughter the children, women and men of Gaza again and again. It arms the Israeli soldiers who shoot down Palestinians young and old on an almost daily basis. Let us remember that on March 25 a US air strike killed nearly 300 civilians in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The US military and CIA has armed, trained and funded terrorist groups that have carried out horrendous atrocities in Syria, including rapes, beheadings and torture on a mass scale.
Humanitarian motives do not and have never had anything to do with the actions of the US imperialist war machines.

We must also view with deep skepticism the claim that the Syrian military carried out the chemical attack in Khan Sheikoun. That claim, without any independent investigation, has been endlessly parroted by the US corporate media. The US state apparatus has a long history of lies and fabricated or manufactured “incidents” to justify wars for corporate profit. We remember the fabricated Gulf of Tonkin incident used to justify US mass murder in Vietnam and the Bush regime’s lies about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Even during the most desperate hours of the war, when it was overwhelmed on many fronts and running low on munitions, the Syrian army refrained from using chemical weapons. Allegations that it did so, such as by the Obama administration in 2013, have been discredited. The Syrian military disposed of its chemical weapons, under UN supervision at that time. But there is considerable evidence, including a 2104 report by journalist Seymour Hersh, that US-backed terrorist groups in Syria have been supplied with sarin gas captured in Libya. Those groups include Al Nusra and ISIS.

Russia has said that the recent civilian deaths resulted from the explosion of a terrorist chemical weapon depot that was hit by an airstrike by the Syrian Army.

The US attack on Syria belies the myth that the Trump regime represents some mythical isolationist wing of “national capital” that is opposed to wars abroad. In fact, the Trump regime represents the direct rule of oil and military interests. The Trump campaign was funded from the start by fracking multibillionaires who grew immensely rich off the Iraq war. Oil interests were being hurt by the Obama regime’s strategy of using low oil prices to hurt Russia, Iran, Venezuela and Ecuador economically. These were the forces behind the Trump’s phony populist campaign They are the most war-hungry sector of capital.

The US has been at war in Southwest Asia and North Africa for over a quarter century. By bombing and sanctions, proxy war and direct invasion the US war machine has killed millions in Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. This war has been not only a bonanza but a necessity for the US corporate ruing class. The biggest beneficiaries are US oil corporations, the military-industrial complex and the banks that finance them. Syria is not a major oil producer, but it is the planned route of a pipeline to bring Iranian and Iraqi oil to the Mediterranean, giving Iran access to Western markets. The US doesn’t own that oil.

The US attacked Iraq in the wake of the collapse of global oil prices that followed the fall of the Soviet Union. The Bush regime’s destruction of Iraq’s national oil industry created an asset-price bubble that gave US oil monopolies like ExxonMobil their most profitable years ever.

Trump Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is former CEO of Exxon. The war against Iraq made the US fracking industry possible. It made the US the world’s No. 1 energy producer. The collapse of that bubble has put over a trillion dollars in investment at risk. The defense sequester voted on by Congress two years ago has put the profits of US arms corporations in general. Trump regime’s desperation for a broader confrontation with Syria, Iran and Russia must be seen in that context. War and oil stocks shot up after the US attack.

The danger of wider war its very real. The US ruling class remembers the world wars of the 20th century as the best thing that ever happened. The massive destruction of World War II put Wall Street banks at the center of the global capitalist economy. The ever-growing US military-state apparatus has been trying to maintain that position by force and violence ever since.

It is urgent that the people of the world unite to stop the US-NATO imperialist war machine and allies agents!

Stop the imperialist war against Syria! Stop the imperialist war against the people of the world.

#LETSTALKPEACE – ALTERMIDYA.NET
APRIL 8, 2017

THE FORMAL peace negotiations between the Philippine government (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) concluded an “exacting yet successful” fourth round of talks in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

One of the gains made from the round was agreeing to an interim joint ceasefire, which both panels hope will give way to a more stable ceasefire agreement and a better environment for the early signing of the important agreement on socio-economic reforms. The parties have set the next round of talks in May, a month earlier than planned.

That the peace negotiations have reached this far and sustained its momentum despite a number of drawbacks attests to the commitment of the two parties to talk peace. Since the Duterte government revived the long-suspended peace talks last year, the negotiating panels had to contend with many challenges which, according to the NDFP, were the handiwork of what it calls “peace saboteurs” in the Duterte administration.

Despite these, the ongoing talks yielded unprecedented results and advanced at a pace both negotiating panels had not expected. It should be underscored, however, that the breakthroughs in the ongoing peace talks became possible because both panels reaffirmed their commitment to respect the basic framework of the peace talks (The Hague Declaration) and other previously signed agreements.

There are other reasons why the current peace negotiations can be considered unprecedented. Here are five of them:

1.  AGREEING, IN PRINCIPLE, TO DISTRIBUTE LAND FOR FREE

The issue of the ceasefire was among the prominent topics discussed during the third and fourth round of talks. But what seemed overshadowed were the important advancements made in the negotiations on socio-economic reforms (SER).

Most crucial in the SER negotiations was that both parties agreed on the principle of free land distribution. For the NDFP, distributing land for free to tillers, farmers, and agricultural workers is the heart of an effective agrarian reform program. The NDFP believes that genuine agrarian reform will address the issue of land monopoly and dismantle the huge concentration of land from the hands of a few landlords.

NDFP peace consultant Wilma Tiamzon had this to say about the outcome of the SER discussions: “The agreement on free land distribution was not reached under any of the past administrations. The NDFP was steadfast in pushing for this through its reciprocal working committee. It is clear that the issue of free land distribution is to make fundamental changes in the situation of the peasantry that have been suffering from the slow pace of the bogus land reform program for a long time.”

The most important task now, according to Tiamzon, is for the peasants to organize themselves and build their own strength to advance these initial unities on free land distribution – a fundamental issue that farmers have long been struggling for.

2. FAST-TRACKING THE DRAFT AND FINDING A LOT OF COMMON GROUND IN THE CASER

Reconciling two different drafts for the comprehensive agreement on socio-economic reforms (CASER) was reportedly tough work for both parties during the fourth round. But according to Randall Echanis of the NDFP reciprocal working committee on CASER, there is already a lot of common ground between the GRP and NDFP drafts in terms of their basic scope and applicability. “Hindi malalaki ang pagkakaiba, in general,” Echanis explained. “Pwede sabihing nagkaroon ng commonalities.”

The discussions on CASER, considered by both parties as the “meat” of the peace negotiations, are aimed at finding solutions to the country’s economic backwardness, poverty, and underdevelopment. By solving these, it addresses the underlying problems of the armed conflict.

The CASER agenda acknowledges that the current neoliberal model has failed to uplift the lives of Filipinos, and proposes similar steps that wealthy countries did that paved the way for their progress – such as implementing agrarian reform, building local industries, protecting farmers and workers, and nationalizing strategic industries.

While there are already some consensus, Echanis said that there are many provisions that still demand greater discussion and resolution in the course of the negotiations. CASER discussions continue to be the main agenda in the next round of talks and bilateral meetings in between.

The discussions are expected to be challenging as the two parties tackle other important parts of land reform and industrialization. Both the GRP and the NFDP hope to sign the CASER within the year.

3. AGREEING TO MAKE THE JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE, A MECHANISM TO CHECK ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF BOTH PARTIES, FULLY OPERATIONAL

During the third round of the peace talks early this year, the two peace panels agreed to launch the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) into full operation.

What is the JMC? The joint monitoring committee is a mechanism launched in 2004 to make sure that both the GRP and the NDFP are abiding by their duty to respect human rights and follow the rules of war in the conduct of the armed conflict. These obligations are embodied in the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), which both parties signed in 1998.

Although the JMC through its Joint Secretariat, has received thousands of reports of human rights violations against both the GRP and the NDFP, it never conducted joint activities like investigating complaints of human rights violations that both parties received. This time, it can now look into the complaints filed by each side and make recommendations in compliance with the CARHRIHL.

What is positive about a fully-operational JMC, according to the NDFP, is that both parties can proceed with other matters in the substantive agenda without being bogged down by accusations of human rights violations. This can contribute in speeding up the peace negotiations, the NDFP said.

4. AGREEING TO RESTORE THE JASIG HOLDERS LIST

During the back channel talks last March, the GRP and NDFP agreed to deposit and safe-keep a reconstituted list and photos of peace negotiators who are protected under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

The JASIG, which was signed in 1995, gives safety and immunity guarantees to peace consultants, staff, security and other personnel who participate in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. Those on the JASIG list are assured of protection from surveillance, harassment, arrest, detention, and prosecution.

The original list could no longer be opened when digital files containing pass keys were corrupted. This happened after Dutch police raided the NDFP office in Utrecht in 2007 and confiscated their files and computers.

The previous Aquino administration refused to reconstitute the JASIG list during its term. Under Duterte – after the brief impasse on the peace negotiations in February – the GRP “restored” the JASIG and scheduled the deposit and safekeeping of the reconstituted list of holders of NDFP Documents of Identification. This commitment appeared in the joint resolution signed during the back channel talks in March.

5. ADVANCING THE DRAFT ON POLITICAL & CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

Following the peace talks framework, the peace panels will start working on the political and constitutional reforms (PCR) after the agreement on the SER is signed. But during the third round of talks in January, the GRP and NDFP had already exchanged full drafts and made initial discussions on the tentative agreement on the PCR. By the fourth round, the committees started their work on reconciling the two parties’ draft.

According to the NDFP, its primary interest in the PCR agreement is to uphold national sovereignty. At the same time, it expressed openness in supporting the shift to a federal system of government, a vision of Pres. Duterte. The NDFP also agreed on making amendments to the Constitution provided that the amendments will include safeguards against foreign monopoly capitalism, warlordism, dynasties, and corruption.

As early as the first round of talks, both panels already agreed to fast-tracking the peace negotiations. This means that while the agenda on the SER is being discussed, the peace panels can already work on the next two substantive agenda (political and constitutional reforms; and end of hostilities and redisposition of armed forces). This way, key agreements will be signed earlier so there is enough time to implement these before coming out with a final peace agreement.

THE MILESTONES reached from the previous rounds of talks were not without innumerable difficulties. Peace advocates have warned about the “peace saboteurs” and militarist elements in government that could undermine the gains made in the talks. But both the GRP and NDFP peace panels avow their commitment to resolving difficulties and moving the peace negotiations forward.

Third party facilitator Elisabeth Slattum seemed to aptly describe the positive disposition of the peace panels against the odds: “The parties worked through a tough crisis, showed perseverance, courage and genuine commitment to achieve peace for the benefit of the Filipino people.”

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NDFP International Information Office
6 April 2017/in News, Statements /
April 6 2017, Noorwijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands

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20170406 4th-Round-Joint-Statement