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)

xxxxx

Published December 10, 2016 9:39pm
By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News

The National Democratic Front (NDF) is now willing to sign a bilateral peace agreement with the government before the release of all political prisoners, an official of the communist group said Saturday.

“We are willing to sign it even ahead, but of course he (President Rodrigo Duterte) has to make a commitment and he has to implement it,” NDF adviser Luis Jalandoni told GMA News Online at the International Human Rights Day protest at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila.

“The NDFP will insist the release of political prisoners, [is] willing to sign a bilateral ceasefire, but Duterte has to release all political prisoners within 48 hours,” Jalandoni said. “And the agreement becomes binding and effective upon the release of all the political prisoners.”

The NDF is demanding the release of at least 400 political prisoners as part of the peace negotiations with the government.

The government has only released 21 rebel leaders since the peace talks with the NDF resumed.

The NDF said in a recent statement that “the release of political prisoners is not merely a goodwill measure but a matter of justice and compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law which both parties signed in 1998.”

Duterte said last Tuesday promised that he will release more political prisoners 48 hours after the NDF had signed a bilateral peace agreement with the government.

Duterte reiterated the statement on Thursday.

“I have conceded to the communists too much too soon. As yet, I have yet to see a substantive progress in the talks. They are asking for 130 detainees to be released… Sorry, I cannot do that,” Duterte said.

The government’s peace panel holding talks with the NDF had submitted a list of 200 prisoners to be releaed, under the new guidelines of the Presidential Committee on Bail, Recognizance and Parole (PCBREP).

Twenty-five of the political prisoners are elderly, sick and women.

The government and the NDF have standing unilateral ceasefires signed in August in Oslo, Norway.

The talks is scheduled to resume in Italy in January. —ALG, GMA News

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Lest the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) brand the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) a temperamental brat, the NDFP reiterates its appreciation to President Rodrigo Duterte for exercising initiative and political will in effecting the release last August of 19 NDFP consultants and staff and enabling the peace negotiations to move forward.

That being said, there was also a clear understanding as early as May that the four remaining JASIG-protected persons held at the New Bilibid Prisons would soon be pardoned; that all the 400 plus political prisoners would walk free through general amnesty; and that the release of 130 sick and elderly political detainees would be prioritized for humanitarian reasons.

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) likewise upheld all previously signed agreements, including the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) which unequivocally defines the injustice underlying the continued detention of the political prisoners and the GRP’s obligation to rectify such injustice.

THREE MONTHS have passed since August, but NO OTHER political prisoners have been released through the peace process.

The NDFP takes exception to the OPAPP’s claim that freedom for political prisoners was “never possible nor even imaginable” under previous regimes and that the delays in their release have been due to the “processes (that) must be observed.” The truth is that there are many available modes that have already been used under the past regimes to release political prisoners, all in accordance with the GRP’s judicial processes.

It is a fact that once the President or other mandated or delegated authority so decides, a political prisoner can be released in a matter of days. OPAPP chief Jesus Dureza should be the first to know this, having been involved in the peace negotiations under previous administrations. The GRP peace panel members cannot feign ignorance about this either, since most of them are lawyers.

There is only one reason for the non-release: the political prisoners, including the sick and elderly, have been held hostage to pressure the NDFP into agreeing to a haphazardly drawn-up peace agreement that would redound to the revolutionary movement’s capitulation instead of addressing the roots of the armed conflict. Secretary Dureza’s threat to activists that “putting undue pressure on the government may not yield their intended results” has no other purpose than to insinuate that the GRP could drag its feet further or even scuttle the releases altogether if the people’s mass movement does not put a stop to its calls to free all political prisoners.

It is the NDFP that should be appalled at the utter bankruptcy of the GRP’s negotiating tactics which have already led to the death of Bernabe Ocasla, an elderly and ailing political prisoner whose long wait for justice ended tragically.

The families of political prisoners, human rights activists and advocates of just and lasting peace have every right to take to the streets and use other fora to protest and seek redress for grievances and denounce the GRP’s failure to comply with its obligation to give justice to the political prisoners. That is, unless Secretary Dureza is also implying that there is no more freedom of assembly and expression under the Duterte government.

###

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By J.V. Ayson – Dec 1, 2016
Reposted from www.manilatoday.net

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), Kabataang Makabayan (KM) founding chairman and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison gave an analysis on the goings-on in the Rodrigo Roa Duterte presidency. Prof. Sison surely knows that the Filipino people would continue to quest for national liberation and social emancipation and to push President Duterte to carry out his campaign promises and bring genuine and meaningful social change, thus emulating the eternal example of Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez

Entering his sixth month in office, the tough-talking president is pressed to deliver his promise in his inauguration address that real change would be his government’s battle-cry. He also promised to ensure a clean and transparent government, to forge a government that cares for the poor and the defenseless, and to address bureaucratic corruption, rampant criminality, and prohibited drug proliferation as symptoms of this nation’s social disease (in line with his strongman image). The populist-oriented Duterte presidency has represented a new ray of hope that the Filipino nation’s basic socio-economic and moral issues could be addressed, that those status quo injustices such as corruption, business-as-usual and abuse of power could be put to an end, and that there would be real change, national healing, and lasting peace.

Prof. Sison pointed out that it was not fair to compare the past six years of former President Noynoy Aquino and the less than six months of Duterte. He said that the six years of Aquino have well proven that he is corrupt, brutal, incompetent and subservient to United States (US) and other foreign interests.

“It is also not fair to make predictions and make conclusions on such basis about the entire term of Duterte. Let us talk about some of the major promises and initial actions of Duterte,” he said.

“Duterte promised to fight corruption and go after the corrupt and put them in prison. But Noynoy Aquino, Butch Abad and other big fish in grand corruption related to illegal discretionary funds and pork barrel are still scot-free,” Prof. Sison offered on the president’s promise of a clean government.

“Duterte has made a few appointments of progressives to his cabinet and has expressed a strong desire to make peace with the revolutionary forces by addressing the roots of the armed conflict. We hope that he can fix the obstacles that his subordinates in the peace negotiations seem to be putting up,” he commented on the presence of progressive personalities in the cabinet.

Asked about the present ‘war’ against illegal drug operations, he said that President Duterte himself had hyped his campaign against the drug problem and many people have welcomed this. But an increasing number of people are wondering why the biggest drug lords and their supply system continue to operate while only a few municipal level drug lords and thousands of street level addict-pushers are being killed.

“Indeed, Duterte should pay more attention to solving the big social and economic problems, let the police go after the drug lords and other criminals in accordance with the law and due process and refrain from making threats about suspending the writ of habeas corpus or declaring martial law,” he reacted on the president’s recent threats of suspending the writ of habeas corpus privilege and of declaring martial law would he fail to get his way in carrying out his promise of curbing illegal drug operations, criminality, and lawlessness in a short time-table.

He explained further that these threats offend the people who had a bad experience with the Marcos dictatorship.

“He promised to industrialize the Philippines. But his key officials responsible for economic and finance policies belong to the neoliberal standpoint and are proud to continue the economic and finance policies of Aquino,” he commented on the president’s 10-point socio-economic agenda.

According to him, “Duterte still needs to respond positively to the demands of the patriotic and progressive forces for basic reforms. He should pay attention to the proposals being made by the patriotic and progressive organizations for reforms and by the NDFP now being made in connection with the negotiations for a Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms.”

He said that it remained to be seen whether Duterte will agree to the proposals of the NDFP regarding national industrialization and land reform, expansion and improvement of social services and increased opportunities for low-income people, and small and medium enterprises.

Prof. Sison reiterated that President Duterte could easily show through the peace negotiations with the NDFP his political will and sincerity in responding to the people’s clamor for real social change.

But even right now, as he surmised, there are problems and roadblocks in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.

According to him, “The Duterte promise of granting amnesty to and releasing all the current political prisoners has practically become a mirage. The subordinates of Duterte, if not Duterte himself, are making the partial releases as a way of subordinating the NDFP to the legal and political system of the GRP and pressuring the NDFP to fall for an indefinite bilateral or joint ceasefire agreement by which the GRP can subsequently ignore the demands of the NDFP and the people for basic social, economic and political reforms.”

He elaborated that it was still the same old scheme of the GRP to effect capitulation and pacification through a prolonged or indefinite ceasefire agreement.

“The next six months will show more clearly what direction is the Duterte presidency is taking. But even now, I can say that it is best for Duterte to maintain and develop a viable alliance and cooperation with the revolutionary forces if he truly wants to serve the national and democratic rights and interests of the Filipino people,” he surmised on the future prospects of the temporary alliance between the president and the Left.

“He should know that his adversaries are already charging him within human rights violations and will certainly take advantage of the aggravation of the economic crisis,” he said regarding the present criticisms against the president.

Prof. Sison stressed out that the people should continue to praise the good acts of Duterte and criticize his bad acts.

“Whenever he talks against the violent and plundering record of US imperialism, the patriotic and progressive forces applaud him but also urge him to abrogate the unequal treaties, agreements and arrangements that have allowed the US to dominate the Philippines,” Prof. Sison reacted on President Duterte’s previous anti-US tirades.

He pointed out that the trend was for the crisis of the world capitalist system and the crisis of the domestic ruling system of big compradors and landlords to worsen. Together with that point, he said that the armed revolution as well as the progressive legal struggle will have more fertile ground to grow and gain strength; but the same crisis conditions can induce serious peace negotiations if the Duterte presidency will remain interested in these.

According to him, “There are Leftist, Centrist and Rightist elements in the Duterte cabinet, thus there are self-contradictions within the Duterte presidency. We hope that it becomes more inclined to reform rather than to reaction.”

In this regard, as he implied, the Left is the most reliable ally of Duterte against the imperialists and the oligarchy of big compradors and landlords.

“Before it is too late, Duterte should strengthen his alliance and cooperation with the forces of the Left and the toiling masses of workers and peasants. Otherwise he becomes isolated by the sustained propaganda of the yellows and their imperialist backers. His own following can be drastically eroded within the next six months if he does not have allies for effecting social, economic and political reforms and improving the living conditions of the people,” he warned on the dangerous prospects and consequences of apparent destabilization attempts against the president.

Prof. Sison said that the legal mass movement that takes the national democratic line and such revolutionary forces of the CPP, NPA and the NDFP would last longer than the Duterte presidency which has a maximum life span of six years. With that comparison, he warned that the imperialists and ultra-reactionaries might even cut short the life of this presidency if in the future this becomes extremely unpopular and isolated.

xxxxx

National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Negotiating Panel

NDFP Media Office
Statement from NDFP Peace Panel Chair Fidel Agcaoili
November 29, 2016

At 5:30 yesterday afternoon, political prisoner Bernabe Ocasla became the thirteenth political prisoner to die in detention in five years. Ocasla died in hospital after suffering a massive stroke four days ago that left him in a coma; he never regained consciousness. Detention under inhuman conditions for almost a decade took its toll on the 66-year old farmer who had long been suffering from severe hypertension.

Ocasla was on a list of more than a hundred sick and elderly political detainees whose urgent release on humanitarian grounds has been a longstanding issue raised by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) before the Duterte government. The Duterte peace panel has whittled down the list of detainees for humanitarian release to a mere 70, without at all explaining how it arrived at this number, and without any assurance that the most seriously ailing among them, like Ocasla, would be part of the “lucky few.”

As early as last May, then president-elect Rodrigo Duterte offered to release the country’s more than 400 political prisoners through general amnesty–one of many promises that have since fallen through the cracks. Twenty-one NDFP consultants and staff were set free in August, but only through conditional bail. Aside from them, the only other “releases” have come from the prolific Malacañang presses.

Enough is enough. Ocasla and the more than 400 other remaining political prisoners have been slapped with trumped-up, criminal charges based on false testimonies and planted evidence. Their continued detention is a travesty of justice and a patent violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) that the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines had formally signed in 1998. To release the political prisoners is to rectify both the injustice that has been done to them and the serious breach of the CARHRIHL.

Allowing them to continue suffering–and to die–while unjustly detained is an abomination which the NDFP cannot tolerate.

The NDFP strongly reiterates its call for the release of all the political prisoners NOW.

xxxxx

National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Negotiating Panel
NDFP Media Office
Press release
November 15, 2016

National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace panel member Benito Tiamzon decried what he called persistent disinformation from the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) that the two parties are close to signing a bilateral ceasefire agreement.

Tiamzon was reacting to a news report published over the weekend in a Mindanao online daily quoting government peace panel chair Silvestre Bello III that both panels hope to ink a bilateral ceasefire agreement by December 10.

He belied Bello’s claims that the only hurdles to the forging of a bilateral ceasefire accord were technical in nature, such as coming up with common definitions of “hostile acts” and “buffer zones.”

Tiamzon said there was obviously a campaign by the GRP to drum up false news about an impending bilateral ceasefire in order to gloss over the serious obstacles put up by the GRP to the forging of a more stable ceasefire.

It was Tiamzon’s second denial in four days and the NDFP’s third rejoinder in a week to a series of news reports that have come out since November 7 that a bilateral ceasefire agreement was in the works.

Unilateral ceasefires declared by the NDFP and the GRP have remained in force since August in the absence of a notice of termination by either side.

Tiamzon stressed the improbability of signing a bilateral ceasefire agreement in the near future in the face of field reports received by the NDFP on AFP and PNP violations of their unilateral ceasefire in Panay, Eastern Visayas and Sorsogon published in Philippine Revolution Web Central (www.cpp.ph) as well as reports from Karapatan-Bicol of intensified militarization in Masbate.

In Masbate, soldiers have reportedly been conducting maneuvers in the guise of the government’s anti-drug campaign, Oplan Tokhang, going house-to-house and questioning residents. Instead of asking about drugs, however, the military has been interrogating residents about the New People’s Army. The military has been
occupying barangay halls, day care centers and even schools in Cawayan, Dimasalang and Palanas towns and have also been terrorizing the people by repeatedly conducting a census of residents in the communities.

Tiamzon said that “with the NPA restrained from mounting offensives, the AFP and PNP continue to violate the people’s rights with impunity.” Under such conditions, even the unilateral ceasefire would prove difficult to maintain, he warned.

Tiamzon also reiterated that as of mid-November, the NDFP has not monitored any development in theGRP’s pledge to release a substantial number of political prisoners by the end of this month.

There are more than 400 political prisoners in various detention facilities nationwide, including three NDFP consultants being held at the National Bilibid Prisons.

###

10 October 2016/in News /
NDFP Media Office | Press Release

The second round of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations ended with some progress but uncertainties remain that serve to dampen the initial optimism on the part of the NDFP negotiators and consultants. There is now growing uneasiness and impatience among the NDFP delegation over the snail’s pace in the steps being taken to effect the release of the remaining political prisoners despite repeated promises and assurances coming from the GRP panel.

There are more than 400 political prisoners still languishing in various jails nationwide. The issue of their continued detention came up early in the talks as the new NDFP Panel Chairperson Fidel Agcaoili cited the pledge made by President Rodrigo Duterte himself last May to issue an amnesty proclamation to speed up their release. So far, the GRP has released only 22 political prisoners, most of them NDFP consultants. There have been no other releases since August.

In response to the appeal from GRP Panel Chairperson Silvestre Bello for patience, Agcaoili said that if the GRP could effect the speedy release of the 22 JASIG-protected NDFP consultants why the seemingly excruciating difficulty in releasing the rest of the political prisoners?

Under pressure from the consistent pressing of the NDFP on this issue, the GRP Panel once again promised “to do their best”. But cynicism is now growing among some of the NDFP negotiators and consultants as well as among the remaining political prisoners on account of so many unfulfilled promises.

Aside from the issue of political prisoners, reports have been coming in from the field about continuous military operations by AFP forces in NPA territory. According to NPA commands from various regions, the reason why there has been no firefights so far is mainly because NPA forces have been maneuvering to avoid armed encounters. But tensions are rising because the AFP military operations appear more and more to be taking the form of base-denial operations targeting the mass base of the NPA.

According to NPA national spokesperson Jorge Madlos, “All NPA units have strictly abided by its own unilateral ceasefire declaration. Aside from maintaining defensive posture, NPA units are conducting counter-maneuvers to avoid armed skirmishes with the AFP.” But not a few NPA units are having difficulty holding back amid threats from the AFP in its counter-insurgency intelligence operations, Madlos said.

From Northern Luzon to Southern Mindanao, Madlos claimed, there were reports of AFP units telling civilians that the ceasefire is no longer in effect to justify their operations and presence in their communities. The NPA’s Agustin Begnalen Command based in Abra said the Army’s 24th Infantry Battalion have been telling civilians in Sallapadan town that the ceasefire has ended.

Madlos said the AFP has yet to observe the advice of President Duterte to be friendly to the NPA adding that the AFP continues to conduct hostile operations against the NPA, “even using the drug campaign as pretext to conduct anti-NPA operations.”

In one instance, when confronted by peasants on why the soldiers were continuing with military operations despite the GRP ceasefire, the AFP officer leading the operation reportedly answered that they would then have nothing else to do adding that the NPA would not attack them anyway because the NPA has declared its own ceasefire. To have a stable ceasefire AFP forces must “return to barracks” at the level of the battalion headquarters.

In addition, reports have come in regarding political assassinations and attempted assassinations of leaders of people’s organizations such as the case of the secretary general of the Compostela Valley Farmers Association (CFA), Jimmy Saipan, who was killed in cold blood by two motorcycle riding gunmen yesterday, October 10. Saipan was a Lumad anti-mining activist opposing the exploration by the Agusan Petroleum Mineral Corp. in 12,000 hectares of Lumad lands. The CFA has also been conducting dialogue with the 66th IB for the latter to stop occupying their community. The AFP has falsely accused the CFA as a communist front organization.

Showing some impatience, the NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison and the NDFP Panel Chair Fidel Agcaoili have served notice to the other side that continued non-compliance on the issue of the remaining political prisoners can have serious consequences in the continuation of the current ceasefire and forward movement in the peace negotiations as a whole. On the other hand, compliance will boost the prospects for forging a bilateral ceasefire agreement and acceleration of the peace process.

There has been some progress in the work of the RWCs-SER, RWGs-PCR and RWGs-EHDF with agreements reached on their respective common framework and outline for the tentative draft agreements that are to be fleshed out in later rounds.

The Reciprocal Working Committee on Social and Economic Reforms RWC-SER took the longest to come up with a common framework and outline. NDFP negotiators sensed an apparent attempt on the side of the GRP to confine the discussion to existing programs of government agencies as the “solutions” without first arriving at a well thought-out understanding of the problems. This prompted NDFP RWC-SER head Juliet de Lima to remark that this was “putting the cart before the horse.”

A great chasm between the two sides exists in the appreciation of what the NDFP considers the age-old problems of rural landlessness and poverty due to the persistence of feudalism, and the absence of real industrialization that has failed to create jobs resulting in massive unemployment which forces 2,000 Filipino workers to go abroad every day to seek for work. Previous government programs have consistently failed to address the problems of rural poverty and urban mass unemployment precisely because these have been based on a superficial and faulty analysis of the deeply-seated problems.

The panels agreed to meet again in the third week of January 2017 in a foreign neutral venue with many uncertainties remaining to haunt the peace process. ###

Reference:
NDFP Media Group
Dan Borjal
dfborjal@gmail.com