by Rey Claro Casambre
Philippine Peace Center

Perhaps the most unexpected, yet most significant, outcome of the Duterte presidential campaign is the return of the peace negotiations into the national consciousness and discourse. To his credit, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was the only presidential candidate who made the resolution of the armed conflict through peace talks a major pillar in his platform.

While having far-reaching implications, it is also the least contentious of his propositions. If his more eagerly received claims of eradicating corruption, drugs and criminality are tainted by his questionable methods, spotty human rights record, and ribald humor and remarks, the only controversial element, if at all, to his peace-making credentials is his known ties with the New People’s Army (NPA) highlighted by his unabashed and repeated declarations that he is a Leftist and Socialist.

These have undoubtedly generated new optimism that the talks, which had barely advanced since 1998 when the CARHRIHL was signed and drafts of the CASER were exchanged formally, would get a new boost under Duterte’s presidency and move it farther than any of his predecessors had.

No one saw it coming. Four months before he would announce his candidacy, Mayor Duterte called CPP founding Chairman Prof Jose Ma Sison by phone and asked the latter if he would come home in case he, Duterte, became President. What made the call extraordinary was that no other prospective presidential aspirant would ever divulge at the outset his or her connections with the CPP -NPA-NDFP. Furthermore, Duterte (unknown then to Prof. Sison) had arranged for the conversation to be heard by his audience in a forum composed largely of AFP officers.

During the campaign, and especially at the homestretch, Duterte repeatedly and unequivocally declared that the only way to stop the armed conflict was to hold peace talks with the Moros, including the BIFF, and with the CPP-NPA-NDFP. More importantly, Duterte stressed that there could only be peace if historical injustices are corrected and the roots of the armed conflict addressed.

After it had become clear that he would sit as the next President of the Republic, Duterte reiterated he would resume the formal peace talks with the NDFP, which had bogged down since 2011 due to the insistence of the Aquino government on changing the framework or foundation agreement and its refusal to honor the other bilateral agreements entered into by previous GRP/GPH administrations, notably the CARHRIHL and the JASIG. There was talk of Duterte’s visiting the NDFP leaders in Utrecht after he meets with the Pope, before his inauguration, and of Prof. Sison’s coming home

Only a week after elections, the Duterte camp had issued several statements reiterating its intention to resume formal talks with the NDFP, naming the Peace Adviser and the head of the negotiating panel with the NDFP, and declaring that political prisoners would be released as a goodwill measure to pave the way to the resumption of talks. Duterte went one step farther by pointing out frankly that while he would become “the enemy” the moment he takes his oath or office, he was offering the communists his hand for peace, along with government positions in such agencies as the DOLE, DSWD, DENR and DAR. The CPP and NDFP warmly welcomed the offer and said they would recommend competent non-communists to fill the posts, even as they explained they could not join the GPH government except as a result of successful peace negotiations.

While all these augur well for the peace process, it is important at the same time to keep one’s feet on the ground and guard against unrealistically high expectations that would only cause cynism once unrealized. Starting with Cory Aquino’s in 1986, incoming administrations have invariably called for peace negotiations, not the least because it was important to maintain stability and build hope in a society seething with discontent, misery and despair wrought by the previous regimes. And with the exception of the Ramos term when most of the major bilateral agreements were signed, the peace talks quickly got bogged down and were even terminated during Estrada’s term.

Duterte now has Ramos behind him who could serve as an adviser on the peace process, among others. He has tapped Jesus Dureza to head the OPAPP and Silvestre Bello as head of the GPH panel negotiating with the NDFP. Both Dureza and Bello had previously been involved in the productive peace talks under Ramos and held the abovementioned positions under the Arroyo government. Unfortunately, Arroyo took a different approach from Ramos’ when it decided to use the US-led “terrorist’ tag on the CPP-NPA and Prof. Sison to pressure the NDFP into laying down its arms outright through negotiations.

Thus, while having Dureza and Bello in his peace team is a plus for the GPH-NDFP negotiations, the crucial decisions will lie with Duterte alone. For starters:

(1) Will the Duterte government honor all the bilateral agreements entered into by previous GRP/GPH administrations, especially the framework 1992 The Hague Joint Declaration, the JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees) and the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law)?

(2) Will he release political prisoners and discontinue the previous regimes’ policy and practice of arresting, detaining and falsely charging political prisoners with criminal offenses?

(3) Will Duterte restore the mechanism unilaterally dissolved by the Aquino government for securing the release of detained JASIG-protected persons?

(4) Will Duterte discontinue Aquino’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan, masquerading as an internal peace and security program? Will militarization and attacks on communities suspected to be under the influence or control of the NDFP be discontinued? Will the Duterte government discontinue the use of CCTP and PAMANA projects for counter-insurgency purposes?

(5) Will the GPH under Duterte reconvene thes Joint Monitoring Committee in line with the CARHRIHL, pursue the investigations and take action on the thousands of filed complaints of gross human rights violations including extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, massacres, attacks on communities, etc.? Will he end the culture of impunity that has allowed human rights violators to go scot-free and encouraged state security forces to commit human rights violations?

(6) Is the Duterte government willing to enter into an immediate just peace or an agreement for truce and cooperation while the formal talks on basic social, economic, political and constitutional reforms are being negotiated?

(7) Will he uphold national sovereignty, pursue an independent foreign policy and review all unequal treaties entered into by previous administrations such as the MDT, VFA, EDCA?

(8) Is the Duterte government willing to bring genuine land reform and national industrialization back into the substantive agenda of the talks? Will he put an end to privatization, contractualization and other anti-labor, anti-farmer and anti-people neoliberal policies?

It is of course too early to hazard a definite answer to these questions. The Duterte camp has so far given mixed signals, even contradictory statements, on these and other issues. Understandably so, not the least because it now has to perform a balancing act as it treads the tightrope under pressure from all sides, not the least from powerful foreign and local vested interests.

No doubt there is hope for the peace talks to move forward farther than it had ever done in past administrations. But there should be no illusions where Duterte is coming fiom, whose interests he is sworn to protect and defend, and what constraints and limitations there are to his avowed Leftist inclinations. That is why there is a need for negotiations in the first place. The positive thing is that the incoming President himself has displayed an exceptionally keen awareness of this.

The NDFP, for its part, has consistently and candidly made its line and policies on the peace talks clear. Consistent with the Hague Joint Declaration, its objective in entering into negotiations is to seek a resolution of the armed conflict through negotiations. It has gone as far as officially declaring, through the CPP, that it is open to entering into a truce and alliance with a reactionary regime that proves itself patriotic and democratic.

Whether the Duterte government proves to be so remains to be seen.

Created on Tuesday, 17 November 2015 17:27
Written by ILPS 5th IA Secretariat
Posted on 18/11/2015 by Jose Maria Sison in press statements, Writings

ILPS 5th International Assembly Secretariat, ILPS 5th International Assembly

The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) successfully held its Fifth International Assembly (5th IA) from November 14 to 16, 2015 in Manila, Philippines with the theme, “For a Socially Just World, Strengthen the Peoples’ Solidarity and Intensify the Struggle Against Imperialist Plunder, Crisis and War!”

The 5th IA was attended by more than 400 delegates, observers and guests from 180 organizations in 39 countries, territories and autonomous regions; namely, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Eritrea, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong (SAR), India, Indonesia, Japan, Kurdistan, Macau, Malaysia, Manipur, Mexico, Nagaland, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan ROC, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam, and West Papua.

The gathering confirms the League’s status as the largest and most consolidated global formation of militant, anti-imperialist and democratic organizations in the world today.

Before a packed audience at Sequoia Hotel, Len Cooper, Vice Chairperson of the ILPS, opened the 5th International Assembly by welcoming the delegates from all the global regions. He noted that the timing of this conference was chosen to coincide with the leaders meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) in Manila. He put forward the people’s demand that APEC and its imperialist agenda be scrapped.

Cynthia McKinney, former member of the US Congress, delivered the first keynote speech. She recounted the numerous ways that US President Obama has betrayed and thwarted the aspirations of the peoples in Asia. She concluded by warning the audience, “Beware President Obama’s Pivot to Asia! Don’t get tricked and don’t be fooled!”

Also keynoting the Assembly was Leila Khaled, the celebrated Palestinian freedom fighter. She spoke of the intifada emerging in Palestine today, “an intifada that like its predecessors is based among those who are most marginalized, most oppressed and most determined to seek their freedom.” She called on the international movement of the peoples of the world to support the Palestinian people in materially changing the balance of power and escalating the cost of occupation – through escalating the boycott of Israel economically, militarily, politically, academically and culturally.

After the open forum with the keynote speakers, the Assembly approved the Agenda and the Rules of Participation including the Rules for Nominations and Elections to guide the conduct of the whole proceedings.

ILPS Chairperson Jose Ma. Sison then gave his report on the work of the ILPS through a recorded video.

Sison said that the Assembly is deliberately timed to oppose the APEC summit and the neoliberal economic policy of imperialist globalization which continues to brutally exploit the working people and plunge the world further in an ever worsening economic and social crisis. He discussed the major aspects and trends regarding the current global crisis of the capitalist system, the intensifying exploitation and oppression of the people by imperialism and reaction, and the growing resistance of the people.

He then summarized the accomplishments of ILPS over the last 14 years covering the 17 concerns of the alliance. He concluded by outlining the important tasks of the ILPS in terms of information campaigns and political education; mobilization around burning issues; cooperation with other organizations, institutions and international alliances; and expanding the membership of ILPS.

Malcolm Guy, General Secretary of the ILPS, delivered the report of the work of the general secretariat. He made a rundown of the speeches and statements made by the Chairperson; the major actions and meetings organized by ILPS members or attended by ICC members; and changes in the website. He noted the challenges faced by the League as it develops more as a multilingual, multinational anti-imperialist united front. He concluded by pointing out the major tasks for the ILPS in terms of political education, organization, mass mobilization and establishment of ILPS Chapters.

Lyn Meza, Auditor of ILPS, shared the report prepared by ILPS Treasurer, Theo Droog, on the financial situation of the League. She noted the increase in the “reserve funds” of the League due to membership and assembly fees collected during the last 4th IA. Nevertheless, she noted the ongoing weakness in terms of the irregular collection of membership dues. For a while, the Treasurer lacked knowledge of tax obligations but the secretariat was able to consult tax experts knowledgeable about tax laws and private foundations.

Workshops on the different concerns of the League were successfully held, combining theoretical discussions and sharing of practical experience in peoples’ struggles. They passed important resolutions and approved major campaigns on their respective areas of concern. In the tradition of ILPS assemblies, the results of the workshops were presented in the plenary through creative and militant presentations by the respective commissions. These were all enthusiastically received and approved by acclamation.

The 5IA was also a fighting assembly with delegates joining mass actions after or in-between sessions. ILPS delegates joined the “kampuhan” (people’s camp) of the Manilakbayan from Mindanao at the Baclaran Church to express solidarity with the struggle of the Lumad against intensifying militarization, killings and imperialist plunder of their lands.

ILPS delegates also held a candle-lighting ceremony at the Boy Scouts Memorial Rotunda for the victims of the recent bombings in Beirut and Paris. Speakers condemned the Daesh (or ISIS) for targeting and killing civilians but also blamed the US and its NATO allies for waging imperialist wars on the peoples of Southwest Asia and North Africa and beyond while arming and training terrorist groups like ISIS in order to help bring down independent regimes and destroy societies that do not fit in their imperialist schema.

International delegates also joined Hacienda Luisita farmers and supporters to mark the 11th year of the Hacienda Luisita massacre with a protest at the Ninoy Aquino Memorial Shrine on November 16. On the same day, ILPS delegates joined workers at the Boy Scouts Rotunda for the International Day of Action against trade union repression. Briefings were also held for the Peoples Caravan Against Imperialist Globalization and the big march against APEC to be held two days after the Assembly. All these actions were well covered by the media.

On the last day, the Assembly discussed and approved the General Declaration of the 5th IA by acclamation. It reflects the Assembly’s analysis of the major contradictions in the world capitalist system today, the increasing brutality of imperialist powers led by the US, and the rising tide of people’s resistance in all corners of the globe.

The Declaration also took note of the recent spate of bombings in Beirut and Paris. The Assembly warns that US imperialism and its NATO allies will be using or taking advantage of these criminal terrorist attacks against the people as a pretext for further aggression and intervention and to justify intensifying fascism and state terror, as they did with the 9/11 attacks. The ILPS resolved to thoroughly expose this duplicity and be prepared to confront more imperialist attacks.

As in previous assemblies, the major documents from the 5th International Assembly such as the Report of the Chairperson, the Report of the General Secretary, the ILPS Charter as amended, the General Declaration and the resolutions resulting from the workshops on the various Concerns and other special resolutions approved by the assembly will be published as a book.

The election of the new members of the International Coordinating Committee was held and the following were elected as regular members of the ICC:

Michelle Allison – Kurdistan
Ramon Bultron – Hong Kong
Jang Chang Weon – South Korea
Len Cooper – Australia
Rudi Daman – Indonesia
Demba Dembele – Senegal
Bill Dores – USA
Pascual Duarte – Argentina
Bernadette Ellorin – USA
Malcolm Guy – Canada
Nelson Herazo – Ecuador
Takane Ikeda – Japan
Mahommad Khatib – Palestine
Mustafa Kilinc – Germany
Elmer Labog – Philippines
Florentino Martinez – Mexico
Liza Maza – Philippines
Lyn Meza – USA
Nadia Mora – Venezuela
Peter Murphy – Australia
Chennaiah Poguri – India
Paloma Polo – Spain
Sarojeni Rengam – Malaysia
Jose Maria Sison – Netherlands
Antonio Tujan – Philippines
Veerle Verscheuren – Belgium
Samuel Villatoro – Guatemala

And the following as alternate members:

Inti Barrios – Mexico
Fatima Burnad – India
L Muh Hasan – Indonesia
Dennis Maga – New Zealand
Rafael Mariano – Philippines
Malem Nouthingja – Manipur
Aiyanas Ormond – Canada
Tess Tesalona – Canada

Two books were launched on the last evening of the Assembly – “More Than a Red Warrior: Arnold Borja Jaramillo, Beloved Son of Abra”, a tribute to a Red fighter captured, tortured and summarily executed by the Philippine military last year; and the book of proceedings of the International Peoples’ Tribunal recently held in Washington, DC. This Tribunal concluded that the governments of the Philippines and the US were guilty of systematically violating the rights of the Filipino people, including such crimes as the extra-judicial killings and massacres of critics of these governments.

The 5th International Assembly was concluded and a Solidarity Cultural Night was held to celebrate the achievements of the League with the participants expressing their continuing commitment to the struggle. Delegates and guests from all participating countries and from various mass organizations in the Philippines sang, rapped, delivered poems, performed music, danced and celebrated international solidarity and the spirit of resistance. Highlights included a duo between and rapper from the US and a young Lumad singer along with a performance remembering the Ayotzinapa 43 in Mexico. Participants thanked the hosts of the 5IA – the ILPS Philippine chapter supported by Hong Kong and Macau – for the well-organized Assembly and warm hospitality and collected and presented a donation to the hotel staff who looked after the needs of the delegates and guests.

ILPS allied networks also held their own international assemblies before and after the 5IA. These include the International Women’s Alliance, the International Migrants Alliance, the Peasant Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Conference and the International Festival for Peoples Rights and Struggles.

Inspired and revitalized by the resounding success of the 5th International Assembly, the delegates reaffirmed their commitment to raise higher their political will and capabilities in facing up to the challenges and in effectively advancing the work of the League in every arena of the anti-imperialist and democratic struggle of the world’s peoples.

xxxxx

Posted from Ang Malaya Net – Philippine News Agency
September 4, 2015

As the Senate deliberates on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, Senator Loren Legarda on Friday urged government to resume peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). “We need to pursue peace that is inclusive in order for it to be just and lasting. The government should initiate the resumption of peace negotiations with the NDFP for the sake of the millions of Filipinos who will benefit from a peaceful and progressive nation,” Legarda said.

According to the Philippine Peace Center, the peace talks between the Philippine government and the NDFP are in a state of suspension. The two negotiating panels have not sat together for formal talks since February 2011.

Moreover, the formal talks to resume discussions on Social and Economic Reforms scheduled for June 2011 did not materialize.

Legarda said subsequent efforts to break the impasse through informal talks between the two parties and discuss an NDFP proposal for truce and alliance began in late 2011 but likewise collapsed in February 2013.

“One may not necessarily agree with the NDFP’s alternative vision of Philippine society, but no one can doubt the integrity of their patriotism or the depth of their commitment to help bring about a more just and a more humane society. That is why we want the government and the NDFP to iron out their differences and address the root causes of the armed conflict,” Legarda said.

She said the subject of the negotiations were concerns affecting Filipinos such as poverty, lack of employment and livelihood opportunities, underemployment, lack of access to housing services, affordable health care, education and other social services, corruption, impunity in human rights violations, environmental degradation, among many others.

“The Philippine Government and the NDFP should resume peace talks to come up with an agreement that is agreeable to both parties and beneficial to the Filipino people. Our people have a huge stake in the peace negotiations, the success of which is a step towards a brighter future for generations to come, “ Legarda said.

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) condemns in the strongest terms the illegal arrest of NDFP Consultant Maria Concepcion “Concha” Araneta-Bocala.

She is a peace consultant of the NDFP for the Visayas. She has been issued Document of Identification No. ND978245 under assumed name Remi Estrella. Her illegal arrest is another flagrant violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). The Aquino regime is answerable for this shameful disrespect for its solemn obligation to abide by a binding peace agreement. Therefore, the NDFP demands the immediate release of NDFP Consultant Concha Araneta Bocala.

We likewise vigorously condemn the awarding of a bounty of P 7.8 Million based on the DND/DILG Joint Order No. 14-2012 of November 12, 2012 listing alleged “235 wanted communists” with an updated bounty on their heads of P 466.88 Million. DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and DND Secretary Voltaire Gazmin must be held accountable for this, together with President Aquino. This Joint Order is a veritable Order of Battle, a gross violation of the JASIG, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and International Law.

As past experience has shown, the revolutionary movement is able to replace arrested leaders and comrades, and continue the revolutionary struggle. Those arrested have trained many others to take up the responsibilities of carrying forward the struggle for national and social revolution.

Qualified lawyers and others (doctors, etc.) will surely offer their assistance to NDFP Consultant Maria Concepcion “Concha” Araneta-Bocala and whoever may have been arrestesd with her.

She had been already involved in peace talks way back in 1986/87 during the Corazon Aquino regime. She is truly a highly valued peace consultant of the NDFP.

LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

Press Statement by Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chief Political Consultant of the NDFP Negotiating Panel
June 3, 2015

Since the 1990s, Luis Jalandoni the chairperson of the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines has visited the Philippines a number of times for peace consultations and family visits under the protection of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) . He met and conversed with Presidents Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo.

Also since the 1990s, Jalandoni has acted as the Chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel and as authorized representative of the NDFP, including the CPP and NPA, in facilitating the safe and orderly release of personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the custody of the NPA as prisoners of war.

In sharp contrast to previous regimes, the Aquino regime has emerged as the worst violator of the JASIG by harassing Jalandoni with an invalid and improperly served subpoena and threatening to arrest and imprison him on trumped up charges of nonbailable common crimes, such as “kidnapping and serious illegal detention of four named policemen (captured by the NPA on July 10, 2014 in Surigao del Norte and released on July 29, 2014) and violation of R.A. No. 9851 (Crime against Humanitarian Law and other Crimes against Humanity”.

The Aquino regime is the most malicious of all regimes by using its representatives (like DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Nani Braganza) to seek the release of the aforesaid policemen with the help of Jalandoni on humanitarian grounds and now hurling against him false charges of common crimes as aforementioned. Defense Secretary Gazmin and OPAPP Secretary Deles were with Secretary Mar Roxas during the safe and orderly release of the aforesaid policemen.

It is reprehensible that the Aquino regime is acting viciously and maliciously by violating the safety and immunity guarantees that protect Luis Jalandoni and by misrepresenting as a crime the facilitation done by Jalandoni to help realize the humanitarian act and goodwill measure of the NDFP in causing the release of the four policemen and seeking to improve the atmosphere for the resumption of formal talks in the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations.

It is unfortunate that the Aquino regime is making a vicious and malicious attack on the NDFP and the person of Jalandoni exactly at a time that he and I have just recommended to the NDFP Executive Committee to give permission to the NDFP Negotiating Panel to undertake exploratory talks prior to formal talks, despite the recent outburst of Aquino against the NDFP and the undersigned.

In order for the GPH and NDFP to engage in exploratory talks, as urged by the Royal Norwegian Government as third party facilitator and the many peace advocates, the Aquino regime should respect the JASIG and allow the safe passage of Jalandoni to his negotiating post and office in The Netherlands. Thus, the exploratory talks will proceed and not be disrupted by petty-minded and malicious obstructions.

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