Kodao Productions
February 10, 2017

NATIONAL Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison asked Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) President Rodrigo Duterte to allow efforts to clear the air in the face of escalating tension between the two parties following the Duterte government’s declaration of an all-out war against the Left.

Sison proposed to his former student “to consult thoroughly with his negotiating panel and the peace advocates in his own cabinet and others outside of his government and encourage and allow back-channelling efforts to clarify misunderstandings and solve immediately the current problems.”

“President Duterte’s announcements to consider the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), NPA (New People’s Army) and NDFP as terrorist organizations and to terminate the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) have the effect of terminating the entire GRP-NDFP peace negotiations,” Sison said.

“I believe that President Duterte’s reaction should not have gone this far,” he added.

Sison said he can understand the role of President Duterte in reacting as GRP president and Commander-in-Chief as simply performing his duty to speak and act in the interest of his government and express concern for his troops.

“But there should have been a measure of restraint in his reaction in order to preserve the GRP-NDF peace process,” Sison advised.

Sison added that the third party facilitator, the Royal Norwegian Government (RNG), deserves a briefing from each negotiating party to possibly enable the continuance of the peace process.

Earlier, RNG Special Envoy to the Philippine Peace Process Ambassador Elisabeth Slattum urged both the GRP and the NDFP to “protect the peace talks, as it is the only way to move forward towards a just and lasting peace.”

In a statement, Slattum said that “what defines the success of a peace process is the ability and commitment of the parties to stay at the negotiation table and not give up, despite setbacks.”

“What is important now is to protect the peace talks, as it is the only way to move forward towards a just and lasting peace, for the benefit of all Filipino people,” Slattum said.

Successful negotiations so far

Sison cited the gains made so far in the formal peace talks in Norway and Italy as reasons for the continuation of the negotiations.

“The recent third round of formal talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) from January 19 to 25, 2017 has been successful and has scheduled the fourth round on April 2-6 in Oslo,” Sison said.

Sison said there was a fair exchange of views and agreements on efforts to comply with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) concerning the release of all political prisoners, justice for and indemnification of victims of human right violations under the Marcos regime, allegations of human rights violations under Oplans Bayanihan, Tokhang and Kapayapaan, as well as the approval of the supplementary guidelines of the Joint Monitoring Committee.

There was also an initial discussion of the bilateral ceasefire agreement to replace the unilateral ceasefire declarations, Sison said.

The NDFP’s chief political consultant added that the biggest achievements in moving forward the peace process were the exchange of full drafts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) by the reciprocal working committees of the GRP and the NDFP, and the complete drafts of the CAPCR by the reciprocal working groups.

“I estimate that it is possible to unify these drafts within 2017. The NDFP has formally offered to GRP to co-found the Federal Republic of the Philippines on the basis of the CAPCR,” Sison said.

Sison said he believes it is possible to implement the CASER and CAPCR through GRP executive actions, legislation and constitutional amendments before the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces (CAEHDF) in 2020-2021.

“Before then, a bilateral ceasefire agreement is possible, especially after the signing of the CASER and the CAPCR by the negotiating panels in 2017,” he said.

The GRP and NDFP ceasefire committees are scheduled to meet in The Netherlands on February 22 to discuss the former’s proposal for a bilateral ceasefire agreement, the possible discussion of which in Italy last month effectively scuttled by an attack by the AFP against an NPA encampment in Makilala, North Cotabato last January 21.

Talking while fighting

Sison said the clear and significant success of the third round of the formal talks has been overshadowed by the reaction of Duterte to the announcement of the termination of the unilateral ceasefire by the CPP and NPA, effective on February 10, and to the so-called self-defense actions already begun by the NPA in accordance with the terms of its unilateral ceasefire declaration.

“Even if the armed conflict between the armed forces of the two parties has resumed, peace negotiations can and must continue precisely to continue with the forging of the CASER, CAPCR and the bilateral ceasefire agreement and effecting the amnesty and release of all political prisoners within 2017,” Sison said.

“More than 10 major agreements were made during the (Fidel) Ramos regime while fighting went on,” he added.

Duterte’s peace adviser and negotiators—notably Jesus Dureza, Silvestre Bello III, Hernani Braganza, Rene Sarmiento and Maria Carla Munsayac—had been part of various Ramos government negotiating teams with the NDFP.

Sison said the CPP, NPA and NDFP remain committed to the peace process in accordance to the The Hague Joint Declaration and further agreements.

“They wish to pursue with the GRP the bright prospects that started with the first round of formal talks in August 2016 and overcome the peace spoilers that run counter to the progress that has been achieved in the third round of formal talks, Sison said.

We must respond to and strive to fulfil the Filipino people’s demand for a just and lasting peace,” he said. (Raymund B. Villanueva)

ZEA IO MING C. CAPISTRANO
Feb. 06, 2017

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Various non-government organizations across the country are urging President Rodrigo Duterte not to back out from the peace talks with the communists.

They also warned the all-out war approach will affect communities and civilians.

Human rights group Karapatan said Duterte should rethink his statement on the termination of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines after the president announced the termination of the peace talks with the NDFP.

Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general said Duterte should be prepared to encounter problems in solving the armed conflict.

“Both Parties have expressed that the road to a just and lasting peace is not an easy one, but has several bumps and roadblocks,” she said.

Palabay added that it is the Army who is sabotaging the peace talks.

“Pres. Duterte should see that one big roadblock is the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) being warmongers and peace saboteurs, within and outside the peace process,” she said citing cases of political killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests and detention, threats and harassment in the communities.

“The AFP’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan was still in play, with the military’s so-called “peace and development” teams coercing and threatening local government officials and residents as they continued to encamp in peasants’ homes, schools, and barangay halls. This is the reason why the residents, the victims and their families have repeatedly called on the GRP to pull out the AFP troops from their communities and to stop Oplan Bayanihan,” she said.

Palabay said “militarist” approach to ending insurgency will not solve the rebellion in the country.

Karapatan has recorded that at least four peasant activists were killed by state security forces in January this year.

On February 3, Lumad leader Renato Anglao, 42, of the Tribal Indigenous Oppressed Group Association was killed by three men on board a motorcycle.

Karapatan said TINDOGA, an indigenous people’s organization of the Manobo-Pulangion tribe in Barangay Botong, Quezon, Bukidnon, has consistently opposed the entry of agri-business plantations in the ancestral land of the lumad. The group was also accused of supporting the NPAs.

“Ultimately, it is the people who will suffer from the absence of GRP-NDFP official peace talks,” Palabay said.

Meanwhile, the Northern Luzon Peace Network said they are worried that violence will “revisit many communities, particularly those occupied by indigenous peoples.”

“The events in the past few days have been extremely worrying for us, tribal groups, church organizations and nongovernment organizations in the Cordillera and in Cagayan province,” it said in a statement.

“We now appeal to them to not lose sight of the long-awaited gains that a peace agreement will bring, particularly for the country’s poorest sectors,” it added.

Various tribes in Compostela Valley Province also said the six-month unilateral ceasefire declared by both sides brought peace to their communities.

“We, the Manguangan, Dibabawon and Mandaya tribes in Laak, Monkayo and Compostela in Compostela Valley, therefore, call on the government and the CPP-NPA to keep talking. We urge them to build on the gains from the three previous rounds of formal negotiations,” it said.(davaotoday.com)

By: InterAksyon.com – The online news portal of TV5
January 25, 2017 7:34 PM

MANILA – The negotiating panels of the Philippine goveernment and the National Democratic Front agreed to separately discuss the bilateral ceasefire when they meet in February in time for the depositing of identification documents of rebel leaders who are to be covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

The agreement was reached at the 3rd round of talks in Rome, which was set to conclude late Wednesday.

Unable to include the joint ceasefire agenda during the opening of the 3rd round of talks in Rome, the GRP got the NDF to finally table it for discussion after a formal submission and acceptance on the part of rebel negotiators, according to a press statement issued by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

The meeting for the bilateral ceasefire will be held in Utrecht in February, according to the government’s chief negotiator, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

This developed after the NDF committed to respond to the GRP draft bilateral proposal, which they officially received on Tuesday afternoon on the 4th day of the peace negotiations in Rome.

NDF chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said they will study the draft government proposal and will submit their own draft.

“They received then they initialed the draft and they proposed that, for discussion of our proposed draft, they will have to come back (in The Netherlands) on the 22nd or 24th of February,” Bello said.

The meeting could last up to three days. The government side immediately welcomed the development. “The fact that they agreed to discuss it (bilateral ceasefire) is a positive development of the [peace] process,” Bello said.

Bello said he is confident that the commitment of the NDF to the peace process will continue to hold the separate unilateral ceasefire declaration, which the rebels had earlier hinted they were seriously considering to withdraw from.

“Otherwise, what’s the idea of discussing a bilateral ceasefire?” said Bello.

He said there was never mention about lifting the unilateral ceasefire during the unscheduled meeting following the armed encounter in Makilala, North Cotabato that left one rebel dead.

Bello said the Makilala incident should push both panels to pursue a bilateral ceasefire in order to direct complaints on violations and prompt fact-finding and investigation by a third party monitor.

Unilateral ceasefire

The ongoing unilateral ceasefire is the longest that the armed forces of both contending parties have maintained, now on its fifth month, in the history of the armed conflict between the government and the NDF.

The government has been pushing for a more formal and secure bilateral ceasefire agreement to provide the atmosphere conducive to the peace negotiations.

A bilateral ceasefire can be reached and signed on or before the 4th round of negotiations set in April in Oslo, Norway according to both panels.

Negotiating panels from both sides agreed to expand the agenda of the February special meeting after intense back channeling by panel members from both sides after the NDF initially declined to include the bilateral ceasefire in the agenda of the 3rd round of talks.

New JASIG list

Bello and the rest of the panel are going to the Netherlands next month to witness the depositing of the names and proper identification of a sealed document that will contain the names of 87 NDF leaders who will be immune from government arrests.

The new JASIG list was supposed to have already been deposited as early as October last year but the NDF said some technical problems bogged down the process.

NDF chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said it was compounded by the unavailability of the bishop who will act as custodian of the JASIG list.

The JASIG list contains the real identification of the NDF consultants who have assumed names and aliases and are to be immune from government arrest.

Bello is the only panel member who will be given access to five random names in the JASIG verification list for verification before it is deposited in a safety deposit box of a still-to-be named bank in The Netherlands.

The list will only be opened by both parties if a listed NDF member is captured by police and government security operatives. The arrest of alleged JASIG covered NDF consultants had led to the collapse of previous talks between the GRP and the NDF.

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Kodao Productions
January 25, 2017

 ROME, Italy—The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and government negotiators are set to end their third round of formal talks today on a successful note with advances on the substantive agenda and new goodwill measures included in the prospective Rome Joint Statement.

NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili and his Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) counterpart Silvestre Bello III said their joint statement will include the signing of the supplemental guidelines on the Joint Monitoring Committee as well as agreements on the ground rules for future negotiations on socio-economic and political and constitutional reforms.

They also agreed to hold a special meeting in The Netherlands in February 22 or 24 to discuss the GRP proposal for a bilateral ceasefire. In the said meeting, Bello will also witness NDFP’s submission of its reconstituted list of Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees-protected persons with Archbishop Wim Eijk of Utrecht for safekeeping.

“This round is turning out to be a success, despite the apparent sabotage with the killing of the activists in Negros Occidental and Surigao del Norte and the attack on the NPA (New People’s Army) encampment in North Cotabato,” Agcaoili said.

Joma Sison delisting

Bello for his part revealed that the joint statement shall include a request to the United States of America (USA) that NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison be delisted from its terror list.

“We have a basis (for such request), considering he is in the process, the peace talks, which negates the character of a terrorist,” Bello said.

Bello said it is important for Sison to be able to travel outside of Europe in response to GRP President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement he is willing to meet his former professor in any neutral Asian country.

NDFP panel member Benito Tiamzon and consultant Wilma Austria welcomed the move saying it would help in the negotiations.

“We have long been saying that the revolutionary movement, the Communist Party of the Philippines, the NPA, most especially Prof. Sison are not terrorists,” Tiamzon said.

“It is also important that President Duterte is saying he is independent of the US and this is one concrete step showing he really is independent,” Tiamzon added.

Sison has yet to issue a statement on the development.

Painstaking SER negotiations

NDFP socio-economic reforms Reciprocal Working Committee (RWC) spokesperson and agrarian and rural development focal person Randall Echanis said their bilateral meetings with their GRP counterparts have taken a few steps forward.

“For the first time, the GRP has submitted a comprehensive draft and we have agreed that both our drafts would be discussed with a matrix comparing both versions,” Echanis said.

Echanis also said that the Preamble and Declaration of Principles mostly based on the NDFP draft has already been agreed upon by the Reciprocal Workings Committees (RWC).

“We have identified commonalities on the Bases, Scope and Applicability provisions of our respective drafts and these are three important parts that our bilateral negotiations have disposed with,” Echanis said.

Echanis also revealed that the GRP has agreed in principle that there should be free land distribution to farmers, subject to consultations with other government agencies.

“We are for free land distribution while the GRP is for land distribution at least cost to the farmers. We met halfway by saying the compensation should not come from the farmers but from the government,” he said.

“They said the NDFP draft’s use of the word of ‘confiscation’ is unconstitutional. We clarified that land grabbed with use of violence and intimidation should be confiscated without compensation but we have no question with just compensation for landlords whose land was accumulated through just means,” Echanis clarified.

Echanis said the NDFP had been meeting GRP halfway in their negotiations as long as the essence and principle of agrarian reform is not compromised.

The closing ceremony of the third round is expected to be held at three o’clock local time (nine o’clock in the evening, Philippine time).

The fourth round of NDFP-GRP formal peace talks shall be held in April in Oslo, Norway. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

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Kodao Productions
January 21, 2017

ROME, Italy—The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) signed the supplemental guidelines to the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) on the third day of their third round of talks.

Marking the first big achievement of the parties’ negotiations in this city, the agreement pushes forward the joint nature of monitoring and upholding human rights in the Philippines, NDFP negotiating panel chairperson Fidel Agcaoili said.

“Finally now under President (Rodrigo) Duterte, we made the determination to sign the supplemental guidelines that will now govern the operation of the JMC as well as its Joint Secretariat,” Agcaoili said.

GRP negotiating panel chairperson Silvestre Bello III for his part said he is glad that the CARHRIHL can now come into fruition, the first substantive agreement he negotiated and signed with the NDFP in 1998.

The signing of the guidelines is “a concrete dividend of this round of talks,” Bello said.

“The full operation of the JMC with its supplemental guidelines in place should not be difficult under our legal regime that included new and bold laws and statutes upholding human rights and international humanitarian laws (IHL), such as the law against enforced disappearance, anti-torture act, IHL ACT, human security act, Writ of Amparo and the Writ of Kalikasan, among others,” Bello added.

“These Supplemental Guidelines shall additionally guide the work of the JMC in its task of monitoring the implementation of, and achieving the objectives of the CARHRIHL,” the newly-signed document said in its purpose and coverage provisions.

“These Supplemental Guidelines shall cover complaints and information on the Parties’ alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, in the context of the armed conflict, as enunciated under the CARHRIHL,” the agreement said.

The JMC was formed and was made operational at the first two rounds of formal peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration in Oslo, Norway on February 10-14 and March 30 to April 2, 2004.

Its formation was in accordance with the CARHRIHL which became effective in August 7, 1998 after it has been signed by NDFP Chairperson Mariano Orosa and GRP President Joseph Estrada.

The JMC then opened its Joint Secretariat (JS) on June 4, 2004 which has since received more than six thousand reports of human rights violations against both the GRP and the NDFP, with the former getting majority of the complaints.

As of May 23, 2016, the NDFP-Nominated Section of the JS received 4,471 complaints against the GRP and 1,926 against the NDFP.

The NDFP however said that 96 per cent of the complaints against them are “nuisance complaints” filed wholesale last November 8, 2006 by the Judge Advocate General’s Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Most complaints against the GRP and its forces on the other hand were filed by human rights organizations or directly submitted by the victims or their families.

The JMC has never conducted joint activities, particularly in processing and investigating complaints of human rights violations received by both parties, as in the murder of the late NDFP consultant Sotero Llamas.

The signing of the supplemental guidelines in the ongoing round of talks has launched the JMC into full operation for the joint activities, the parties said.# (Raymund B. Villanueva)

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Kodao Productions
January 18, 2017

ROME, Italy–The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) submitted a long list of complaints against the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) for violations of previously-signed agreements which, it said, make the extension of its unilateral ceasefire untenable.

Even as delegates from both parties are starting to fill Holiday Inn-Parco de Medici (venue of the January 19-25 talks in this city) the Left’s negotiating panel formally raised with its counterpart seven GRP violations of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG)

“The prospect for forging a bilateral ceasefire agreement has grown dim,” NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili in a statement said.

The NDFP Negotiating Panel cited the following cases:

• Betrayal of the Left’s trust through GRP’s request to the NDFP to withdraw the judicial appeals of three JASIG-protected NDFP consultants that eventually made their conviction final. But GRP President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to pardon Eduardo Sarmiento, Emeterio Antalan and Leopoldo Caloza to enable them to participate in the ongoing GRP-NDFP peace negotiations;
  

• The surveillance and harassment by motorcycle-riding men of recently released JASIG-protected consultants;

• GRP’s failure to act on NDFP’s demand for justice for the enforced disappearance of JASIG-protected persons Leo Velasco, Prudencio Calubid, his wife and relatives; Rogelio Calubad and his son; Nestor Entice and his wife; Leopoldo Ancheta; and Philip Limjoco; as well as the murder of Sotero Llamas that were all committed during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo;
  

• The ongoing Armed Forces of the Philippines operations against communities suspected to be under the control of NDFP forces on the pretext of conducting so-called peace and development projects. The NDFP has listed such violations in 43 provinces and 146 municipalities all over the country;

• The killing of innocent people due to brutal, reckless and indiscriminate methods employed by the police in its anti-drug operations;
  

• Failure of President Duterte to amnesty close to 400 political prisoners as he repeatedly promised since May; and

• GRP’s failure to render justice and indemnify victims of human rights violations under the Marcos martial law regime, in addition to its attempt at the political rehabilitation of the Marcoses through the late dictator’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“These violations place into serious question the sincerity of the GRP in its peace negotiations,” Agcaoili explained.

“For if previously signed agreements are not honored, what guarantees does the NDFP have that future agreements would not be similarly violated by the GRP?” he asked.

The GRP has not made secret its desire to forge a bilateral ceasefire agreement as one of the major issues to be discussed in the third round of talks.

“The third round of talks hopes to tackle the still unfinished discussions on the proposed bilateral ceasefire vis-à-vis the issues on the releases of prisoners,” Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza in an earlier statement said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

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By ANTONIO L. COLINA IV – DECEMBER 27, 2016

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/27 December) – Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Monday said he does not doubt that President Duterte would fulfill his promise to release all political prisoners as part of the peace negotiation with the National Democratic Front.

Bello, also the chair of the government peace panel in talks with the NDF, issued the statement in Paquibato District here where he attended the 48th founding anniversary celebration of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“President Duterte has given word that he will release all political prisoners, and I don’t doubt his word,” he said in Filipino.

Local Government Secretary Mike Sueno and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III attend the 48th founding anniversary celebration of the Communist Party of the Philippines in the hinterland village of Lumiad in Paquibato District, Davao City on Monday, December 26. Mindanews Photo

He added the GRP panel was working on the release of 17 to 20 political detainees before the year ends.

Around 50 to 70 detainees were earlier promised to be released in time for the International Human Rights Day last December 10.

Bello explained the release has been delayed by the need to follow judicial processes.

He said it would have been easier if the political prisoners were already convicted by final judgment because the President can just pardon them.

“Meron iba kasi may (The others have) pending case against them, so the cases are pending in court. So it will be the court who will decide if they will be given temporary liberty,” he said.

“Ang pangako ng president na palalayain nya lahat pero dadaan sa (The President promised to free all but they have to go through a) legal process. And besides, may sinabi si Presidente na (the President said) he is willing to declare a general amnesty subject to the approval of the Congress. I think this will be an act of the President after a final peace agreement has been signed,” he said.

Last December 6, a statement from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process quoted Duterte as saying there will be no substantial release of political prisoners unless the two parties signed a bilateral ceasefire agreement.

“Produce to me a signed bilateral ceasefire agreement and I will release them within 48 hours. You can take my word for it,” Duterte said.

The President said he would lose all his cards if he releases all political prisoners while still in the thick of negotiations.

But this did not sit well with the communists who said Duterte likened the release to a card game to force the NDFP to enter into a bilateral ceasefire agreement.

Connie Ledesma, a member of the NDF peace panel, alleged that government troops continued to violate the unilateral ceasefire declaration issued in August by Duterte.

She said there has been a clamor within the CPP to lift its unilateral ceasefire declaration.

But Bello said that they have not received reports of the alleged violations.

He said complaints should be addressed to the GRP peace panel, Commission on Human Rights and Department of Justice.

The GRP and NDFP panels will resume the third round of peace negotiations in Rome, Italy on January 18 to 25 to flesh out the Comprehensive Agreement on Socioeconomic Reforms (CASER).

The CASER, described as the “heart and soul” of the peace negotiations, contains the most contentious issues such as agrarian reform, national industrialization, and foreign policy.

(Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)

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By Jose Maria Sison
Founding Chairman, Communist Party of the Philippines
Chief Political Consultant, National Democratic Front of the Philippines
December 26, 2016

Dear Comrades and Friends,

Let me first give the Red salute and warmest revolutionary greetings to the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the local organs of people’s democratic government and the broad masses of the people on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the reestablishment of the CPP under the theoretical guidance of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

This is a day of celebrating the accumulated and recent victories of the Party, the people’s army and the people in the new democratic revolution through protracted people’s war. This is also the day for the people to manifest their indignation over the Duterte regime’s failure to fulfill its promises in the peace negotiations, especially the amnesty and release of all political prisoners listed by the NDFP in compliance with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and in consonance with a possible bilateral interim ceasefire agreement and the plan to accelerate the peace negotiations.

This is the day for peace rallies nationwide to demonstrate the Filipino people’s unity for a just and lasting peace. In this regard, a national assembly is held in a guerrilla zone somewhere in Davao City. All sectors of society that are desirous of a just and lasting peace are expected to join the peaceful actions under conditions of the reciprocal unilateral ceasefire declarations. Representatives of the Duterte regime have also been invited to attend in order to hear for themselves the people’s outcry for justice. We make complaints and constructive criticism in the hope of obtaining positive results for the benefit of the people.

We have no other objective but to demand the amnesty and release all political prisoners and give way to a bilateral ceasefire agreement. These matters can be settled in a few number of hours. We should not get stuck on such matters by dealing with them piecemeal over a long period of time. We can make a stable bilateral ceasefire agreement by learning lessons from the period of unilateral ceasefire declarations. Oplan Bayanihan should be terminated and should not be replaced by another brutal oplan under General Año, who kidnapped Jonas Burgos. Safe distances must be kept between the armed forces and units of the GRP and the NDFP by restricting them to barracks at battalion or higher level in the case of the AFP or areas of encampment in the case of the NPA at company level.

The GRP and NDFP negotiating panels should finish and sign the comprehensive agreements on social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and end of hostilities and disposition of forces within the first or second year of the Duterte regime and there will be at least three or four years to observe the implementation of the agreements on basic reforms and allow the cooperation of the cadres, Red fighters and revolutionary forces with the regime in the social, economic, cultural, political and security system of a truly independent, democratic, progressive and prosperous Philippines.

The main interest of the NDFP and the People´s Revolutionary Government in social and economic reforms is economic development through national industrialization and genuine land reform. Also, their main interest in political and constitutional reforms is upholding national sovereignty and democratic principles. They are also willing to co-found the Federal Republic of the Philippines with the Duterte regime and make a new constitution that prevents fascist dictatorship, political dynasties, warlordism and dissipation of national resources.

We should welcome the third round of formal talks to be held between the GRP and NDFP negotiating panels in Rome from January 19 to 24, 2017. The Reciprocal Working Committee of the NDFP will be going to these talks with its 84-page proposed draft of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER). The Reciprocal Working Group of the NDFP on Political and Constitutional Reforms will be ready with a rough draft of at least 20 pages of the Comprehensive Agreement on Political and Constitutional Reforms (CAPCR). The Reciprocal Working Group of the NDFP on End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces (RWG-EHDF) will be observing the talks to gain insight for drafting its assigned comprehensive agreement.

The prospects are still bright in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations if we consider that the rounds of talks are proceeding successfully. The discussion on CASER and on other matters can certainly progress during the third round of formal peace negotiations. It would be alright for the talks in Rome to schedule the fourth round in a neutral venue. The two sides can meet to talk whatever is the status of the talks on the bilateral ceasefire agreement; and even if the NDFP would end its unilateral interim ceasefire declaration due to the ruthless incursions on its territory of the enemy armed forces.

Even if the GRP remained unwilling to amnesty and release all political prisoners in compliance with the JASIG and CARHRIHL and in consonance with a bilateral ceasefire agreement, the NDFP would still be willing to negotiate peace while fighting in the battlefield. The delay in reaching the bilateral ceasefire agreement is the responsibility of the GRP, because of its refusal to fulfill its promise of amnesty and release of all political prisoners. The NDFP has no choice but to pursue the line of people´s war in order to strengthen the people´s army and other revolutionary forces as the means to avoid the pitfall of capitulation and pacification through an indefinite ceasefire that would certainly result in a lack of interest on the part of the GRP to negotiate the substantive agenda of the peace negotiations.

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By: InterAksyon.com
December 13, 2016 12:00 PM

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

MANILA, Philippines — The former chief rebel peace negotiator took to task his erstwhile counterpart, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, for “misrepresenting” his statement on their willingness to forge a bilateral ceasefire agreement by implying they were also willing to forego the release of political prisoners.

In a statement on Monday, Bello said: “I welcome the statement of Mr. Luis Jalandoni on the readiness of the National Democratic Front (of the Philippines) to sign a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the government even before the release of the political prisoners.”

At the same time, he gave assurances “the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte remains committed to the release of a substantial number of political prisoners.”

Recently, Duterte, while saying he remains committed to releasing around 150 of elderly, sick and nursing mothers among the more than 400 political prisoners, said he would not agree to free the rest unless the NDFP agrees to the bilateral ceasefire.

Reacting to Bello’s statement, Jalandoni, in his own statement, said the chief government negotiator “conspicuously omitted the NDFP’s position that any such agreement should take effect 48 hours after the signing, in keeping with the timeframe within which President Rodrigo Duterte said he would order the release of all political prisoners.”

When asked to clarify this, a member of the NDFP panel said it meant, “After the release of political prisoners, the bilateral ceasefire will take effect.”

In his statement, Jalandoni stressed that the NDFP “stands firm in its position that the release of political prisoners is first and foremost an obligation of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) under signed agreements, particularly the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law) and the JASIG (Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees), which the GRP has reaffirmed.”

He added that the release of the prisoners “cannot be reduced to a simple act of goodwill that the GRP can opt to take or not.”

“If the GRP is truly negotiating in good faith, it must release the political prisoners as a matter of commitment,” Jalandoni said.

At the same time, Jalandoni also warned that, even while they are helpful in building mutual trust and confidence between warring parties, ceasefires, whether unilateral or bilateral, “can also contribute to the erosion of goodwill when they are routinely violated,” referring to the alleged violations of the government’s unilateral ceasefire, as reported by human rights groups and various commands of the New People’s Army.

Jalandoni referred to “reports … pouring in from the field about relentless AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police) combat and intelligence operations victimizing rural communities.”

“The statistics this December are grim: 18 activists killed extrajudicially, with 20 others surviving attempts on their lives; more than 13,000 civilians victimized by forced evacuation; more than 14,000 cases of schools, clinics, chapels and other civilian infrastructure used as barracks by the AFP, all in violation of the CARHRIHL,” he added.

Lately, several NPA commands, notably in Mindanao and the Visayas, have warned that residents of communities where they operate have supposedly been clamoring for them to terminate the rebels’ own unilateral ceasefire because of continued harassment and threats by government forces.

Jalandoni said unless the government fulfills its commitment to release the political prisoners and orders the AFP “to be confined to barracks to show genuine reciprocity,” “it would be better for the NDFP to negotiate without the strain of having to deal with a deceptive and onerous ceasefire.”

December 8, 2016/

Kodao’s Raymund Villanueva interviews National Democratic Front of the Philippines chief political consultant Prof. Jose Maria Sison on President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise to release all political prisoners, ceasefire, peace talks, new AFP chief of staff Eduardo Año, and extra-judicial killings connected to the so-called drug war.

Kodao: In a recent interview, you said the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) may work for a bilateral ceasefire as long as the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) President Rodrigo Duterte makes good on his promise to release all 434 political prisoners within 48 hours after delivery to him of a signed copy by GRP panel chair Silvestre Bello III and GRP panel member Angela Librado-Trinidad. What is your explanation for advising the revolutionary movement may accept Duterte’s challenge?

Prof. Jose Ma. Sison (JMS): I made the advice after reading a news announcement that President Duterte would release all the political prisoners within 48 hours after the GRP and NDFP panels sign a bilateral ceasefire agreement. I asked NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili to contact immediately his counterpart GRP chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III whether the report is true and whether the GRP panel is willing to meet the NDFP panel within the second half of December regarding the bilateral ceasefire agreement.

Kodao: What should the NDFP and the revolutionary movement do with the signed bilateral ceasefire if the GRP president fails to deliver on his promise?

JMS: The signing of the bilateral ceasefire agreement by the GRP and NDFP panels can come ahead of the amnesty and release of all political prisoners by President Duterte but said agreement becomes valid and effective only upon the actual release of said political prisoners and upon the approval of the agreement by the GRP and NDFP principals. No chance for the GRP to get the bilateral ceasefire agreement and then renege on the commitment to amnesty and release all political prisoners.

Kodao: How can Duterte affect such when his peace adviser (Sec. Jesus Dureza) and the GRP panel have been saying the notoriously slow judicial processes must be followed?

JMS: Indeed, the OPAPP (Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process) is known to block the amnesty and release of the political prisoners and is supposed to have advised Duterte accordingly. The GRP side has the power to prolong the imprisonment of the political prisoners and make them suffer needlessly an injustice in violation of the CARHRIHL and the Hernandez political offense doctrine.

But the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines is ready to terminate the August 28, 2016 unilateral declaration of interim ceasefire in case no amnesty and release of all political prisoners would occur in December or January. We shall be back to a situation of negotiating while fighting, unless the GRP terminates the peace negotiations completely.

Kodao: How long would such a bilateral ceasefire take effect?

JMS: If the bilateral ceasefire agreement shall be forged, it shall be valid and effective indefinitely between the armed forces and units of the GRP and NDFP.

Kodao: What are the conditions that would compel the NDFP to end such a bilateral ceasefire?

JMS: The NDFP can end such a bilateral ceasefire agreement if the GRP grossly and systematically violates it, loses interest in the negotiations of the substantive agenda and is interested merely in using the bilateral ceasefire as an instrument of capitulation and pacification at the expense of the people and the revolutionary forces.

Kodao: Some regional commands of the NPA and the CPP are thinking of terminating their existing unilateral ceasefire declaration because of several documented cases of violations of the GRP’s unilateral ceasefire declaration by its own armed forces. What would happen to such sentiments and the people’s complaints of ceasefire violations if the NDFP would sign a bilateral ceasefire with the GRP at this point?

JMS: The NDFP should not sign a bilateral ceasefire agreement that does not address the violations made by the AFP, PNP, paramilitary forces and death squads during the period of reciprocal unilateral ceasefires. Provisions must be made for pre-empting and preventing the recurrence of such violations. The military and police should be restricted to barracks and should not usurp civilian functions. They should not be able to use any pretext to commit atrocities against the people within the territory of the people’s democratic government.

Kodao: President Duterte met with NDFP panel chair Fidel Agcaoili, NDFP panel member Benito Tiamzon and consultants just last weekend, which reportedly went well. Then a day before Duterte appointed Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año as new AFP chief of staff, he issued his ultimatum. What do you think would happen to a bilateral ceasefire when Duterte’s new chief of staff is an alleged human rights violator and a “rebel hunter?”

JMS: In his candid moments, President Duterte himself admits that the GRP is reactionary and rotten, serving US imperialism and controlled by oligarchs, with civilian, military and police officals involved in corruption and criminality, including illegal drugs. To make a good bilateral ceasefire agreement and continue the peace negotiations with the NDFP, Duterte must assume the responsibility of fixing the criminals and self-contradictions in the GRP. He must know how to control his new AFP chief of staff or replace him if he can. Otherwise, a just and lasting peace will become impossible. And the armed revolution will continue.

Kodao: There has been more than five thousand killed under Duterte’s so-called war on drugs in his five months in office. How should the NDFP raise this issue under CARHRIHL during the formal peace talks? Is it still beneficial for the revolutionary movement to engage in formal talks with the Duterte government under which all these killings are happening?

JMS: The extrajudicial killing of 5,800 suspects of being drug pushers is a valid issue that can be discussed under the CARHRIHL, especially because there are already many complaints that the military, police and paramilitaries of the GRP are using Oplan Tokhang for the purpose of smearing and murdering revolutionaries.

The CPP, NPA and NDFP have already pointed out that the anti-drug campaign might be like Plan Columbia under which tens of thousands of paramilitaries were organised not really to fight the drug traders but the revolutionary forces.

Kodao: It is being announced that the next round (third) of formal talks would be on January 18-24 in Rome, Italy. What would be on the agenda and how is the NDFP preparing for this?

JMS: The GRP and NDFP Panels will take up the condition of the political prisoners and the unfulfilled promises to release them. There is yet no basis to say that the matter of bilateral ceasefire agreement will be taken up before or during the third round of peace talks. I expect that the negotiations of the CASER (Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms) by the RWCs (Reciprocal Working Committees) concerned will make some significant advance to show that the peace process is really moving ahead. CASER is the meat of the entire peace negotiations. It offers the prospects of national industrialization, genuine land reform, improved incomes and means of livelihood and expansion of social services.

Kodao: Why should the Filipino people support the continuation of the peace process?

JMS: The Filipino people support the continuation of the peace negotiations because they wish substantial social, economic and political reforms to be achieved across the negotiating table. However, if they are frustrated in this regard, they will also be able to see more clearly the justness and necessity of the people’s democratic revolution through people’s war. After all, the crisis of global capitalism and the domestic ruling system continues to worsen and cry out for revolution.

(Interview and Sison photo by Raymund B. Villanueva/Duterte photo by Davao Today)

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