By Jose Maria Sison, NDFP Chief Political Consultant
May 24, 2018

Within the so-called Constitutional Commission, there is the drive of certain pro-Duterte elements headed by a retired general to draw up a a draft federal charter that makes easier the declaration of martial law by citing ¨lawless violence¨ or ¨a series of offensives by the New People´s Army¨ as the basis for the declaration of martial law.

Said drive of the pro-Duterte elements is an indication that the threat of martial rule, being declared before or after the charter change, continues to exist and does not augur well for the resumption and success of GRP-NDFP peace negotiations while Duterte is the president.

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 the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations to 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.

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Kapayapaan Campaign for a Just and Lasting Peace

Press Statement
May 23, 2018
Reference: Fr. Ben Alforque, Kapayapaan Convenor

We are heartened by recent reports of positive developments in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines ( GRP ) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

It augurs well for the country as we believe that peace negotiations provide an effective venue for the people — especially those most affected by the worsening political and economic crisis — to articulate their grievances and bring their demands to the negotiating table.

We urge both parties to ensure that the peace talks resume without any preconditions, and with only the interests of the people, and the nation, in mind.

We call on both parties to prioritize the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms ( CASER ) that will address the burdens being experienced by our people brought about by recently-imposed economic policies such as the TRAIN Law. We firmly believe that CASER can help lift our nation out of its social & economic malaise, and can possibly bring the armed conflict to a more peaceful resolution.

We call on both parties as well, to uphold agreements already laid out in the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law ( CARHRIHL ) as bases for building a “conducive” atmosphere for the peace process. Confidence-building measures can be initiated by both sides, the most urgent of which should be the release of political prisoners who have long suffered the injustice of imprisonment due to trumped-up charges and made to suffer subhuman prison conditions. There can be no real social justice nor genuine democracy in this country as long as the reality of political prisoners remain.#

MEDIA RELEASE
May 18, 2018

In a statement of “deep concern” over the alleged terrorist list filed in court by the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Council of Bishops of the Episcopal Church of the Philippines (ECP) urged the DoJ Secretary to “withdraw the list if not the petition altogether” as great risk and threats of harassment looms on the individuals listed including two of the ECP’s members – International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) Global Coordinator Beverly Longid and the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz.

The ECP statement was released in response to the DoJ petition filed at the Manila Regional Trial Court last February seeking to tag the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorist groups under the Human Security Act of 2007. The petition includes over 600 names accused of membership in the CPP-NPA. Other than Longid and Corpuz, both known as international Indigenous Peoples (IP) rights advocates who are also Indigenous Bontok-Kankanaey from the Mountain Province, IP leaders also found in the list are Joan Carling, Atty. Jose Molintas, Windel Bolinget, Jeanette Ribaya-Cawiding, Joanna Carino, Datu Isidro Indao, Datu Mandayhon, and Datu Mampadayag.

“Due to my social involvement, I have experienced threats, harassments, and intimidation from suspected State agents,” Longid said in her personal statement. Similarly, the ECP stated that human rights advocates and ECP members accused of trumped up cases reported being subject of harassments making them vulnerable to unjust vexation – something they believe should have ended during the Martial Law years.

Attacks on IP and human rights activists is “a reaction [of the government] to [the] defense of Lumads caught in the massive military operations launched by Rodrigo Duterte” as Tauli-Corpuz pointed out in an interview. Longid also stressed, “Impunity reigns in my country, and the pronouncements and actions of Duterte show his total disregard for human rights, peoples’ welfare and interests, and rule of law, undermining our tight to speak freely and other basic freedoms.”

The ECP expressed that, instead of vilifying and putting people in great risk, the government must push for the peace talks with the National Democratic Front to prosper by addressing the ‘socio-economic issues [that] have spawned the long-drawn conflict in this land’ and put an end to ‘killing each other for another generation’. The IPMSDL reports that numerous cases of IP rights violations, killings, and attacks on culture and ways of life are the result of state military and para-military abuses carried out under the guise of counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism activities.

“The International IPMSDL organization, and I in my personal capacity, is overwhelmed by this show of solidarity to drop the DoJ terrorist list. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the whole Council,” Longid declared regarding the ECP’s statement. “At the same time, we appeal to all to echo the call to dismiss and delist the names in the DoJ petition and stand for everyone’s democratic rights for lawful dissent without fearing for their safety and security.”

Reference: Beverly Longid, Global Coordinator | info@ipmsdl.org

ANC News Channel
April 23, 2018

ANC host Christian Esguerra and guest peace consultant, Rey Claro Casambre, Executive Director of the Philippine Peace Center talking about the prospects on the resumption of the GPH-NDFP peace talks.

See the full video coverage of the interview below:

By: Tina G. Santos – Reporter, Philippine Daily Inquirer
April 09, 2018

Leaders of various religious organizations have expressed support for President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to resume peace talks with communist rebels.

The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP), the largest ecumenical formation of church leaders in the country, said it welcomed the recent statement of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza that the President had directed government negotiators to work on the resumption of peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

“As leaders of churches in the country, we appreciate these developments … We hope that the atmosphere for the resumption of the stalled talks will continue to spread positively,” PEPP said in a statement.

‘Principled dialogue’

“PEPP has always championed principled dialogue over the negotiating table to resolve this 50-year-old conflict,” it added.

The statement was signed by Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, SJ, and Fr. Rex Reyes Jr. of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines; Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez Jr. and Bishop Noel A. Pantoja of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches; and Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB, of the Office of Women and Gender Concerns of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines.

The group called on both the Philippine government and the NDFP to resume formal peace talks, through the third-party facilitation of the Royal Norwegian Government.

“We also call on both parties to fully implement the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and respect previously signed agreements,” it added.

Joma avoids word war

With the possible resumption of the stalled peace talks, exiled Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison is avoiding engaging the President in another word war.

“I let him go in sounding tough and bellicose. At this time, I prefer to avoid exchanging harsh hyperboles with PRRD (President Duterte),” Sison said in an online interview on Saturday.

He said “let us give a chance to peace negotiations” to emphasize that like the President, he also wanted to revive the peace negotiation straightaway.

“The important thing now is that he allows his negotiating panel to negotiate and make agreements with its NDFP part,” Sison said.

The President has given a two-month deadline for the peace talks to resume.

He said he would want the resumption of the peace talks to be held in the country.

He also declared that he would give Sison and other rebel negotiators the freedom to move around while the peace talks were ongoing.

But in an earlier interview, Sison made it clear that the peace talks should be held in a foreign neutral venue as agreed upon by both parties to ensure the safety and protection of rebel negotiators. —With a report from Delfin T. Mallari Jr.

April 4, 2018

“The recent statement of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana referring to the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER) as an example of the NPA’s insincerity show his utmost disregard for the Filipino people’s aspirations for economic development through national industrialization and land reform.”

This was the statement of NDFP Reciprocal Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms (RWC-SER) Chairperson J de Lima in response to the Secretary’s explanation of his hardline position against the resumption of the peace talks with the National Democratic front of the Philippines.

In a recent interview, Secretary Lorenzana mentioned that “nothing good will come out of it (peace talks) unless the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) agrees to their (the NDFP) unreasonable demands. He went on to cite the CASER as an example of the unreasonable demands.

The NDFP RWC-SER chairperson added Secretary Lorenzana is incapable of grasping the significance of negotiating the CASER. This simply demonstrates how far removed he is from understanding the people’s aspirations in liberating themselves from their continuing exploitation and oppression by the US and local exploiting classes..

The NDFP RWC-SER Chairperson stated that once negotiated, agreed upon and implemented the CASER would lead to a cessation of hostilities and basically resolve the armed conflict in the Philippines. Both the AFP and NPA troops and their families would benefit from land reform and industrial employment.

The NDFP’s draft proposal for a CASER is an immediate program for genuine social and economic progress that is achievable within current political and legal processes and can be implemented if the the current administration were interested in upholding the interests of the people against the social and economic forces that have kept our country economically backward, she added.

“We strongly urge Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to read the NDFP’s draft proposal for a Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER) and the common drafts on ARRD and NIED that have been arrived at by the bilateral teams under the RWCs-SER of both parties before shooting his mouth off about unreasonable demands. . ” #eof

Kodao Productions
April 4, 2018

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) welcomed President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent speech expressing “openness and readiness” to resume formal peace negotiations.

NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said they are likewise open and ready to resume the peace negotiations and expect the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and NDFP negotiating panels to meet as soon as possible.

Duterte last Tuesday again changed his mind and said he is ready to resume formal peace negotiations with the Left.

“I’d like to address myself first to the NPAs. Alam mo, hindi tayo magkalaban. Gusto ko mang lumaban, eh ang puso ko, sinasabi niya ‘ang kapwa mo Pilipino pinapatay mo,’” Duterte said in a speech in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro.

“Gusto kong magkaroon tayo ng usapan. But along the way, papunta doon maraming obstructions and everything. But you must understand, hindi madali magpunta sa paratingan natin,” he said.

“And so if we can have a middle ground,” Duterte added.

In a statement issued a few hours after Duterte’s speech, Sison said the NDFP is “sincere in striving to negotiate and forge with the GRP comprehensive agreements on social, economic and political reforms to address the roots of the armed conflict and lay the basis of a just and lasting peace.”

Sison said making a significant advance on the basis of the drafts prepared on October 4, 2017 will also forward corollary agreements to amnesty and release all political prisoners as well as coordinated unilateral ceasefires between the parties’ armed forces.

“We hope that from here on we can make steady and significant advances on the road of realizing peace in accordance with the people´s demand for full national independence, democracy, social justice, economic development and cultural progress,” Sison said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

DAVAO TODAY
Mar. 29, 2018

MANILA, Philippines – National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison stressed on Tuesday that the cooperation of both chambers of Congress is needed for the revival and success of the peace talks between the NDFP and the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

Sison said the concurrence of Congress is needed for a presidential amnesty proclamation to release all political prisoners in compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) in exchange for a mutually effective ceasefire as the first step towards the end of hostilities.

“The cooperation of Congress is also needed to pass the laws for enabling the realization and implementation of the policy agreements to be embodied in the comprehensive agreements on social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and the end of hostilities and disposition of forces,” he added.

Since October 4, 2017, the NDFP said it had already positively responded to the expressed desire of GRP to draft a ceasefire agreement more effective and more sustained than the previous unilateral ceasefires, said Sison.

Sison also welcomed Senate President Aquilino Pimentel’s support of the resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations and the withdrawal of the petition to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorist organizations.

“Ang personal position ko nga, formally or informally, dapat tuloy (ang peace talks). Kapwa Filipino e bakit tayo nagpapatayan,” Pimentel told reporters, Monday.

“Kung walang peace talks, talagang lines are drawn e, so anytime there could be attacks, there could be arrests, there could be killings, yun ang effect nun. So yung fear andun tataas, na anytime you could be attacked,” he added.

Sison said Pimentel’s statement was “encouraging to the NDFP and to all those interested in striving for just peace” and “rides well on the earlier resolution of the Lower House.”

The resolution, filed last March 22, was signed by 61 lawmakers from various political parties. They urged President Rodrigo Duterte to listen to the clamor of the people for a resumption of peace talks between the GRP and and the NDFP.

Sison said the NDFP is “definitely willing” to resume peace negotiations as soon as the GRP agrees.

However, if Duterte and his men are unwilling to negotiate peace, Sison said the revolutionary forces and people represented by the NDFP “have no choice but to concentrate single-mindedly on fighting those who lust for their blood, death and humiliation.

“The best test of sincerity is to maintain sobriety and reasonableness in the peace process, comply with mutually approved agreements and concentrate on the negotiation and forging of agreements on social, economic and political reforms to lay the ground for a just and lasting peace for the benefit of the Filipino people,” he added.

If peace talks will resume, he said, the full implementation of CARHRIHL and the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio Economic Reforms (CASER) can be achieved.

CASER, which contains the commitments of both panels for genuine agrarian reform and rural development, national industrialization and economic development, independent foreign policy and fiscal and monetary policies, among others, is seen as one of the steps to solve poverty and social inequality in the country. (davaotoday.com)

DAVAO TODAY
Mar. 28, 2018

MANILA, Philippines – Progressive lawmakers on Wednesday denounced Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana for slamming the doors for the resumption of peace talks with the communists.

In a statement, ACT Teachers Representatives Antonio Tinio and France Castro said the foiled peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) had already come a long way since both parties signed the landmark Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) in 1998 up to its recent preparation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER).

CASER, which contains the commitments of both panels for genuine agrarian reform and rural development, national industrialization and economic development, independent foreign policy and fiscal and monetary policies, among others, was one of the steps geared towards solving poverty and social inequality, Tinio and Castro said.

The signing of CASER, as well as the full implementation of CARHRIHL are only some of the reasons for both sides to resume the peace talks, they added.

“The heart and soul of the peace talks, the CASER seeks to end poverty and social inequality by committing the government to answer the demands of the people for land, job security, higher salaries and wages, and social services such as education and health,” Castro added.

In a press briefing last Monday, Lorenzana claimed he sees no reason to revive the peace negotiations between the government and the communists.

“I will have to defer to the President if he wants to pursue the talks but the defense department, we oppose the peace talks,” he said, noting that he will consult President Rodrigo Duterte about the resolution of 61 House members, calling for the revival of talks with the NDFP.

“After I talk to him (Duterte), it would be his decision. If his decision is to pursue the talks, then we have to abide. But personally, I am not in favor of it,” he added.

Lorenzana also insisted that nothing has been gained in past talks with the NDFP.

But the ACT Partylist refuted this saying Lorenzana does not want real change.

“Secretary Lorenzana does not want real change. His goal is for the New People’s Army to just capitulate, to surrender its arms without the GPH first committing to change its ways by addressing the roots of the armed conflict,” Castro said.

“With his strategy, the people will only continue to suffer in poverty, landlessness, contractualization, and endless oppression from landlords and those in power. Past administrations took such a strategy and resorted to purely military means to end the armed struggle, and thats why nothing is happening, as Lorenzana has put it,” she added.

In November last year, Duterte terminated the peace negotiations with the NDFP, followed by a proclamation declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorist organizations.

But last February, the President said he might consider the resumption of peace talks upon consultation with his military officials. (davaotoday.com)

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison, NDFP Chief Political Consultant,
March 27, 2018

I appreciate and welcome Senate President Aquilino Pimentel‘s statement that he favors the resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations and that the petition to declare the CPP and NPA terrorist organizations can be withdrawn to clear the way for the resumption of the peace negotiations.

Pimentel´s statement is definitely encouraging to the NDFP and to all those interested in striving for just peace. It rides well on the earlier resolution of the Lower House, signed by 61 lawmakers, urging President Duterte to “listen to the clamor of the people” for a resumption of peace talks between the GRP and and the NDFP.

The cooperation of both houses of Congress is needed for the peace negotiations to resume and advance to a successful conclusion. The concurrence of Congress is needed for a presidential amnesty proclamation to release all political prisoners in compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) in exchange for a mutually effective ceasefire as the first step towards the end of hostilities.

The cooperation of Congress is also needed to pass the laws for enabling the realization and implementation of the policy agreements to be embodied in the comprehensive agreements on social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and the end of hostilities and disposition of forces.

The NDFP is definitely willing to resume peace negotiations as soon as the GRP agrees and the Filipino people are certainly clamoring for this. But if President Duterte and his subordinates Lorenzana and dela Rosa are unwilling to negotiate peace, the revolutionary forces and people represented by the NDFP have no choice but to concentrate single-mindedly on fighting those who lust for their blood, death and humiliation.

Still the NDFP, the CPP and NPA will remain open to several possibilities such as that Duterte and his subordinates will change their minds and agree to negotiate peace or they are eventually replaced by a new administration of the GRP.

Duterte and his subordinates ought not to delay the resumption of peace negotiations by believing their own propaganda that they can destroy the revolutionary movement with sheer violence and deception or by harping on the line that the NDFP is insincere. The CPP will soon issue a statement on the 49th anniversary of the NPA to debunk comprehensively the claims of fake military victories and fake surrenders being made by the GRP, AFP and PNP.

As regards to sincerity, the NDFP has more and bigger complaints against the GRP, AFP and PNP for violations of human rights and international humanitarian during and outside ceasefire periods but the NDFP has properly submitted its complaints to the Joint Monitoring Committee under CARHRIHL so as not to disrupt the negotiation of substantive agreements. But Duterte has been the one ignoring the appropriate mechanisms for complaints, ranting publicly against the NDFP, CPP and NPA and repeatedly terminating the peace negotiations.

The best test of sincerity is to maintain sobriety and reasonableness in the peace process, comply with mutually approved agreements and concentrate on the negotiation and forging of agreements on social, economic and political reforms to lay the ground for a just and lasting peace for the benefit of the Filipino people.

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