Discussing socio-economic reform proposals is the enabling environment conducive to peace talks – NDFP RWC-SER

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Media Release
14 July 2017

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. The enabling environment most conducive to the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations is the buckling down to work in crafting a comprehensive agreement on substantial socio-economic reforms that will benefit the Filipino people and the adherence to human rights and international humanitarian laws including the release of all political prisoners, as promised by the Duterte government.”

NDFP RWC-SER Vice Chair Alan Jazmines stressing the need to proceed with the discussions on socioeconomic reforms during the 3rd round of formal talks in Rome January 2017 / Altermidya.net

This was the declaration of Alan Jazmines, vice-chairperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms, amid the announcement of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines that back channel talks will soon be held to discuss the creation of an “enabling environment” for the resumption of the fifth round of the peace talks.

According to Jazmines, the backchannel talks are a welcome development for trying to break the current impasse in the GPH-NDFP peace talks caused by the suspension by the GPH of the talks’ fifth round which was scheduled May 27 to June 1.

He also said that the NDFP RWC-SER is looking forward to the bilateral teams’ meeting which aims to come up with a tentative common draft of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) in order to accelerate negotations and complete the latter by the first quarter of 2018.

Jazmines highlighted the urgency to discuss and come up with an agreement on agrarian reform and rural development. He said that in Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, Hacienda Roxas in Batangas, Central Luzon, Negros, the Cordillera, and Mindanao, farmers continue to engage in land struggles to defend their right to the land that they are tilling.

He continued, “The achievement of the third round of the peace talks, the agreement on the principle of free land distribution by the NDFP and the GPH, will amount to nothing unless it is followed up by more concrete and substantive agreements.”

“We expect that there will be no more delays. The talks have already wasted so much time. We have done our assignment and will bring to the table concrete proposals on agrarian reform and rural development, national industrialization, protection of the environment. This is a clear path to take for a just and lasting peace,” Jazmines concluded.###

REFERENCE:
Alan Jazmines
Vice-Chairperson, NDFP Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms
Contact Number: + 63 949 137 7260

Rural industrialization is key to self-reliant economic development

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Media Release | 08 July 2017

NDFP consultant Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis explaining the importance of establishing rural industries that will lay the ground for national industrialization / Altermidya.net

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ Reciprocal Working Committee on Social and Economic Reforms (NDFP RWC SER) said rural-based sectors are looking forward to the resumption of the formal peace negotiations that will discuss and firm-up unities on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development and fast-track discussions on other pertinent sections of the proposed Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER).

“The people’s strong clamor for the continuation of the formal peace talks is enough conducive environment for the GPH and NDFP to return to the negotiating table and discuss thoroughly concrete and doable reforms.”

“Genuine development and industrialization of vast rural areas is possible. If a genuine agrarian reform program, rural infrastructure and support services are in place, farmers can unleash their full productive capabilities.”

“Farmers have the experience and capacity to develop the countryside and create rural industries that will benefit millions. Free land distribution is the necessary first step towards this goal,” said NDFP consultant Randall Echanis who challenged the GPH to “walk the talk” on its declaration that free land distribution and support services to farmers are essential in achieving genuine agrarian reform. “If we are to discuss agrarian reform and rural development in upcoming meetings, the GPH should make concrete its recognition of free land distribution.”

The NFDP RWC-SER technical working group recently consulted farmers and peasant leaders nationwide regarding concrete proposals on rural development particularly in the enhancement of major crop lines and rural industries. The consultation was held in preparation for the forthcoming bilateral team meetings of the GPH and NDFP RWC-SER working groups to come up with a tentative CASER draft to accelerate the talks, with the target of completing the negotiations by the first quarter of 2018.

Based on the NDFP draft, industries pertaining to coconut, sugar, abaca, bamboo and rattan, clothing and textile, pottery, furniture and the processing of meat, dairy, spices, fish, fruits, vegetable and other agricultural by-products shall be developed. “These industries are essential mainly to ensure food production for local consumption and develop an agri-based economy.”

“In our discussion with farmers, they reiterated that particular crop lines and rural-based industries can be developed depending on the actual needs of the people and with the objective of establishing rural industries that will lay the ground for national industrialization. Raising agricultural productivity, and provision of agricultural research and development and support services to farmers were also proposed.”

“Correct policy framework is significant in order to reinvigorate rural areas. The sooner we resume with the negotiations, the sooner we can address the needs of the people and the ailing local economy,” Echanis said.

Gradual shift

During the consultation, farmers from the Ilocos region said they are willing to gradually shift from tobacco to other crops, particularly to food crops for domestic consumption like rice, corn, vegetables and others. “If there is irrigation in Ilocos, farmers can produce crops other than tobacco,” Echanis said.

“Since time immemorial, only foreign-owned tobacco companies have benefited from tobacco plantations in Ilocos and Cagayan Valley. Worse, corrupt officials in Ilocos Norte led by Governor Imee Marcos were found to have misused the fund of the Tobacco Excise Tax or RA 7171 that is intended for tobacco farmers and the tobacco industry, now considered as a sunset industry.”

“While we are at it, it is also preposterous for the GPH panel to continue rubbing in the never-ending issue of revolutionary tax at this point to parry CASER when one of their own is accused of plundering people’s tax money,” Echanis said referring to Gov. Marcos’ alleged excise tax corruption. ###

REFERENCE:
Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis
Member, NDFP Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms
Contact Number: 0949-1377260

Lorenzana ignorant that reforms are at peace talks’ heart

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Press Statement | 05 July 2017

NDFP RWC-SER Vice Chair Alan Jazmines stressing the need to proceed with the discussions on socioeconomic reforms during the 3rd round of formal talks in Rome January 2017 / Altermidya.net

The Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP RWC-SER) welcomes the announcement that the fifth round of formal peace talks between the NDFP and the GRP might resume in August. At the same time, the NDFP RWC-SER condemns Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana’s earlier statement that the “government panel should consider ending the peace process.”

This statement only shows that the Defense Secretary is a cold-blooded warmonger who has no interest at all in advancing the interests of the Filipino people. His continuous harping that there should be a bilateral ceasefire before any peace talks can resume is putting the cart before the horse.

He has shown that he has no grasp at all of the roots of the armed conflict. He rejects the fact that socio-economic reforms lie at the heart of the peace talks. He does not seem to care that any substantial gain that can be reached by the NDFP and the GRP would benefit the greater majority of the Filipino people. Without any remorse to the lives lost, he is brazenly pursuing a purely military solution to the armed conflict in the country.

Like the US lapdog and militarist that he is, Lorenzana show no appreciation for the milestone agreement reached by both parties on the principle of free distribution of land to the tillers in the third round of the talks. In fact, he has viciously gone after ordinary farmers and their organizations defending their right to till their land. He has opposed the statement of his own President who has issued a clarion call to occupy oligarchs’ lands.

More and more, Lorenzana is proving himself to be a major obstacle to peace and if President Rodrigo Duterte and the GRP panel want to genuinely pursue the road of peace, they must make sure that such an obstacle is removed.###

REFERENCE:
Alan Jazmines
Vice-Chairperson, NDFP Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms
Contact Number: + 63 949 137 7260

Statement of the NDFP panel on the NPA as a target of martial law

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The GRP and NDFP negotiating panels must meet first to solve certain problems and agree on coordination

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The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) makes it appear that it has cancelled the fifth round of the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) because the latter has not withdrawn the order of the Communist Party of the Philippines to the New People’s Army to intensify tactical offensives against the AFP, PNP and armed auxiliaries of the GRP.

The GRP is culpable in the first place for waging a nationwide all-out war policy of aerial bombardments and artillery attacks against the revolutionary forces and people since last year and has aggravated this policy by proclaiming martial law all over Mindanao, far beyond Marawi and the bailiwicks of the Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorist groups.

To accomplish ceasefire, coordination and cooperation between the forces of the GRP and the NDFP within Marawi against the aforesaid terrorist groups, the GRP must at best unilaterally withdraw its all-out war policy and martial law declaration or at least allow its negotiating panel to meet with the NDFP negotiating panel to start discussing coordination and cooperation in Marawi and subsequently on a wider scale.

The NDFP has already instructed the Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization (MRLO) inside Marawi to assume home defense tasks against the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups. It has also directed units of the New People’s Army close to Marawi to redeploy for the purpose of mopping up, holding and blocking operations.

The MRLO and the NPA can coordinate and cooperate with the AFP by keeping a safe distance, maintaining independence and initiative and avoiding problems of getting mixed up with the AFP and PNP units. The localized ceasefire, coordination and cooperation can be agreed upon if the GRP and NDFP negotiating panels meet first and discuss matters in detail.

It is not too late to have such a meeting of the GRP and NDFP negotiating panels because the terrorist attack on Marawi might still be prolonged or if suppressed soon, might recur in other parts of Bangsamoro. The US, anti-Duterte sections of the AFP and PNP and local anti-Duterte parties and groups have already begun a campaign of destabilizing the Duterte regime for the purpose of overthrowing this with a coup.

According to latest reports, there is yet no protocol between the MNLF and the AFP for their coordination and cooperation against the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups in Marawi, contrary to the claims of President Duterte himself.###

Fidel V. Agcaoili
Chairperson, Negotiating Panel
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
June 7, 2017

NDFP sets the record straight on political prisoner releases

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NDFP Media Office
Press statement
June 4, 2017

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) would like to make the following factual clarifications in the face of repeated claims by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) that the majority of the political prisoners listed by the NDFP have already been released.

The NDFP submitted a list of 411 political prisoners to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte in May 2016 for release on various grounds or through amnesty (as proposed by him) in connection with the agreement to resume peace negotiations between the GRP and the NDFP upon his formal assumption to office in June.

Of this number, only nineteen (19) or barely 5% were released on bail in August 2016. Of these, 17 were covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and two (2) were freed for humanitarian reasons in accordance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

They are Tirso Alcantara, Concha Araneta, Ariel Arbitrario, Renato Baleros, Kennedy Bangibang, Alexander Birondo, Winona Birondo, Pedro Codaste, Renante Gamara, Eddie Genelsa, Alan Jazmines, Ernesto Lorenzo, Loida Magpatoc, Alfredo Mapano, Ruben Saluta, Adelberto Silva, Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Tiamzon and Porferio Tuna.

Three (3) other JASIG-protected persons were not released then and are still in detention now. They are Eduardo Sarmiento, Emeterio Antalan and Leopoldo Caloza.

In the 9 October 2016 Oslo Joint Statement signed by the parties after the second round of formal talks, the GRP agreed and committed to expedite their release through pardon. Therefore, their continued detention is both a blatant violation of the JASIG and in betrayal of trust and the GRP’s express commitment.

After August 2016, sixteen (16) more political prisoners were released from detention based on the merits of their respective cases, including one who should have been automatically released for having overserved his sentence.

Four (4) additional political prisoners were pardoned in December 2016, namely, Dindo Absalon, Rico Bodino, Bonifacio Suyom and Martin Villanueva. Their applications for pardon were initially approved during the time of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but were only signed by the current regime with the revival of the Presidential Committee on Bail, Recognizance, and Pardon (PCBReP).

In the meantime, one ailing political prisoner, Bernabe Ocasla, died in jail last November.

Thus, out of the list of 411 political prisoners submitted to President-elect Duterte in May 2016, only a total of 39 or less than 10% have been released: 19 in consideration of JASIG and CARHRIHL and 20 based on the merits of their respective cases and through grant of pardon.

Not only has President Duterte failed to deliver on his promise to release all political prisoners. His regime has, in fact, added 39 more political prisoners to the roster! This includes three JASIG holders of Documents of Identification signifying that they are consultants of the NDFP. They are Ferdinand Castillo, Rommel Salinas and Promencio Cortez.

This now brings the number of political prisoners to 410—almost the same figure the NDFP started with in May last year. ###

Fidel V. Agcaoili
NDFP Panel Chairperson
Contact No. 0031-64-1324348

STATEMENT OF THE NDFP NEGOTIATING PANEL

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We, the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) urge the Negotiating Panel of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to come back to the negotiating table and realize the fifth round of formal talks as soon as possible.

The GRP and NDFP must act in consonance with the Filipino people’s clamor for peace negotiations and their demand for social, economic and political reforms to address the roots of the armed conflict and lay the basis for a just and lasting peace.

The GRP and NDFP must stand together to oppose and fight terrorism, terrorist groups and acts of terrorism.

We must condemn and must be resolved and determined to counteract the Maute group and Abu Sayaff which are wreaking havoc in Marawi City. These are terrorist groups linked to local reactionary forces, affiliated with ISIS and supported by US-CIA and other foreign entities.

By terrorism we mean actions that intimidate, terrorize and harm civilians solely or mainly in violation of human rights and international humanitarian law.

The level of counteraction against terrorism, as well as the nature, scope and duration must be appropriate and proportional to the degree of danger and threat and/or harm by the terrorist group concerned in Marawi City. Upon the success of the counter-terrorist measures, these must cease to allow normalcy and full respect for human rights as soon as possible.

In specific areas of cooperation and coordination, the armed forces of the GRP and NDFP shall be bound by a ceasefire agreement between them, pending the issuance of ceasefire declarations that are unilateral but simultaneous and reciprocal.

Preparations for the fifth round of formal talks must be undertaken through bilateral teams of the GRP and NDFP so that precious time is not lost. In this connection, all panelists, legal and political consultants and other personnel in the peace negotiations must be allowed to return to the Philippines and subsequently attend the fifth round of formal talks.

Signed in Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands on June 1, 2017.

On behalf of the NDFP Negotiating Panel:

Fidel V. Agcaoili
Chairperson

Peace negotiations are still on, safety and immunity guarantees remain in effect

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NDFP Media Office
Press statement
May 29, 2017

The GRP-NDFP peace negotiations are ongoing despite the fact that the 5th round of formal talks did not take place as scheduled due to the decision of the GRP panel not to participate. All the bilateral agreements that lay down the framework, processes and conditions for the entire peace negotiations, including the JASIG, remain binding, operational and in effect.

The NDFP Negotiating Panel has received assurances from Sec. Silvestre Bello, head of the GRP panel, that JASIG remains operative. This means that all the NDFP consultants who are involved in the ongoing peace negotiations are guaranteed (1) free and unhindered passage in all areas in the Philippines, and in traveling to and from the Philippines in connection with the performance of their duties in the negotiations; and (2) immunity from surveillance, harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation or any other similar punitive actions due to any involvement or participation in the peace negotiations.

Because the peace negotiations are still on, the bilateral consultations between the working groups of the GRP and NDFP can continue to be held in the Philippines to prepare for the eventual resumption of the formal talks. All the NDFP panel members and consultants involved in the work of the different bilateral teams of the RWCs-SER (Reciprocal Working Committees-Social and Economic Reforms) and of the RWGs-PCR (Reciprocal Working Group-Political and Constitutional Reforms) are covered by JASIG and should remain free and unhindered to go about their work.

We deem it necessary to underscore the continuing effectivity of the JASIG in order to prevent any misreading or misinterpretation that would lead prosecutors to move for, and for the courts to cancel, the bail bonds of NDFP consultants still facing charges and for the police and military to arrest NDFP consultants who are set to return to the Philippines following the GRP’s cancellation of the fifth round of formal talks.

The JASIG-protected NDFP consultants currently in The Netherlands flew out of the country in good faith and the GRP is duty-bound under JASIG and other pertinent agreements to ensure that they will not be harassed, surveilled, searched, arrested or detained after they set foot in the Philippines.###

Reference:
Fidel V. Agcaoili
Contact No. 0031-64-1324348

On cancellation of fifth round of peace talks and worsening state of martial rule

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Communist Party of the Philippines | May 29, 2017

The cancellation of the fifth round of peace talks is the sole responsibility of the GRP. Its negotiating panel imposed unnecessary, last-minute and unacceptable preconditions for talks to proceed. The talks could have been an opportunity to attain substantial progress in discussing and forging the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER). The GRP cancellation of the fifth round of peace talks has effectively derailed and set back the CASER.

The CPP and all revolutionary forces in the Philippines are united with the NDFP Negotiating Panel in urging their counterparts GRP to resume the fifth round of formal talks to discuss the substantive agenda of socio-economic reforms.

There are two key reasons why the GRP did not want to proceed with the fifth round of negotiations. Firstly, it stubbornly insists on their demand for the NDFP to sign a bilateral ceasefire agreement prior to negotiations on any other substantive agreement. Such a demand has become increasingly counterproductive.

Secondly, the GRP wants the Party leadership to recall its declaration to the NPA to carry out more and more tactical offensives in the face of the GRP’s all-out war and imposition of martial law in Mindanao. Such was a foul attempt by the GRP to hostage the peace talks in order to pacify the NPA, while it continues to intensify armed offensives against the people, consolidate its military rule and lay the ground for the nationwide imposition of martial law.

The Party received the recommendation of the NDFP Panel and NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Ma. Sison for the Party to reconsider its earlier declaration to the NPA. The revolutionary forces also heard the retraction by Defense Secretary Lorenzana that martial law in Mindanao is not directed against the NPA, however empty and self-contradicted by his consequent order for the military to go against the NPA for its “illegal activities”.

Heightened AFP offensives under martial law all over Mindanao, however, do not encourage such a reconsideration at this time. The Filipino people clamor for the NPA to wage more and more offensives amid aerial bombardments, artillery shelling and machine gun strafing and worsening abuses of human rights committed by the AFP.

In the final analysis, the cancellation of the fifth round of NDFP-GRP formal talks was brought about by the GRP’s all-out war and martial law and its demand for the NPA to silence its guns while the din of the AFP’s cannons, bombs and heavy gunfire thunder against the people.

The Party calls on the Filipino and Moro people to unite firmly against the Duterte regime’s martial law. The Duterte government and its military and security officials are fanning the flames of Islamophobia by raising the bogey of “Islamic radicalism”, imposing martial law restrictions against Moro communities and subjecting the people to “profiling”.

The Party denounces Duterte and the AFP for the complete disregard of the Moro people in Marawi City whose communities and homes have been subjected to all-out shelling, bombing and strafing. As a result of all-out bombardment, tens of thousands have sought refuge outside the city. People who could not leave have been forced to become refugees in their own homes. Their movements are being severely restricted by checkpoints. Aid, relief and human rights workers are being prevented from entering the city being ravaged by aerial bombardments in the pretext of pursuing the so-called Maute terror group.

The Party joins the people in denouncing the creeping nationwide martial rule. Even as the martial law declaration covers only Mindanao, all military units and police forces have gone on red or full alert in North Luzon, Central Luzon, the National Capital Region, Bicol Region, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Negros and Panay. They have imposed their threatening armed presence in public places, parked tanks in government offices and roadsides. Checkpoints have been set up as well in Tacloban City on the utterly ridiculous reason of “solidarity with martial law in Mindanao.”

The Filipino people must strongly protest the authoritarian threat of Duterte to defy any possible action of the GRP’s Supreme Court and Congress and extend the effectivity of his martial law declaration to as long as he and the military wants. They must demand the immediate lifting of martial law.

Reply to the Opening Statement of Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza dated May 27, 2017

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May 27, 2017

NDFP Negotiating Panel chair Fidel Agcaoili and Senior Adviser Luis Jalandoni talk to the media after the GRP finalized decision not to participate in the fifth round of talks.

Reply to the Opening Statement of Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza dated May 27, 2017 by the Negotiating Panel, National Democratic Front of the Philippines

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) vehemently deplores the GRP Panel’s decision not to participate in the fifth round of formal negotiations.

The GRP’s persistent demand for the immediate signing of a bilateral ceasefire agreement as precondition to the continuation of the formal talks is an outright violation of the 1992 Hague Joint Declaration. The NDFP stands by its position, priorly acknowledged and concurred with by the GRP, that the implementation of CARHRIHL and the forging of the CASER should take precedence over the crafting of a bilateral ceasefire agreement.

In what would have been his opening statement, NDFP panel chair Fidel Agcaoili urged for a return to the framework agreement which eloquently defines the proper sequence in forging the comprehensive agreements on human rights, social and economic reforms and political and constitutional reforms as the solid bases for the comprehensive agreement on ending the hostilities. Implementing social, economic and political reforms is the only way to enduring peace.

OPAPP Secretary Dureza’s assertion that the CPP order to the NPA to launch more tactical offensives in response to the imposition of Martial Law in Mindanao “puts in great jeopardy” the quest for peace totally obscures the fact that the GRP has been waging an “all-out-war” against the NPA, conducting offensive operations and aerial bombings of communities regardless of “collateral damage” — all on the direct and standing orders of President Duterte.

Contrary to the GRP allegations, the NPA operations cannot be attributed to the failure of the CPP-NPA-NDFP leadership to control their ground forces. Rather, they are defensive and counter-offensive responses to the AFP provocative actions and offensive operations.

Contrary to its declared purpose, the imposition of Martial Law in Mindanao, with threats to extend this throughout the archipelago, is bound to further escalate the armed conflict, aggravate the human rights situation and exacerbate the suffering of the people. It bestows a veneer of legality to justify the escalation of warrantless arrests, searches and seizures as well as indefinite detention targeting entire civilian communities suspected of supporting rebel and other armed groups. It further emboldens the AFP, PNP and other state-sponsored armed groups to perpetrate extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests and detention, forced evacuation, filing of trumped-up charges, threats, intimidation and other human rights violations with impunity. The revolutionary movement is therefore completely justified in calling on the people and its forces to defend themselves against these intensifying attacks.

The GRP completely glosses over the fact that undeclared martial law has long been existing in vast areas of the countryside. As of February 2017, at least 500 barangays in 146 towns in 43 provinces have been subjected to various kinds of offensive military operations.

The NDFP has acknowledged the role played by President Rodrigo Duterte in resuming the peace talks, affirming previously signed agreements and bringing the negotiations on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) to its current unprecedented level. The NDFP considers these as important confidence-building measures as well as acknowledgement of the GRP’s obligations under previously signed agreements and its duty to uphold human rights, social justice and the people’s welfare.

However, there is no truth to the claim that the GRP has complied with all of its obligations and commitments, especially the release of political prisoners who are unjustly detained.
There is no basis for the GRP’s claim that there is a sudden and perceptible erosion of public support to the peace talks. The marked progress in the talks in the past months has in fact heightened the people’s interest and confidence that the negotiations could lead to social and economic reforms that would improve their lives. President Duterte himself has gained political capital emanating from the people’s support for the peace talks.

There is likewise no basis for the supposed clamor for localized peace talks given its inherent inability and historical failure to achieve overarching reforms. Localized peace talks have been used to fragment revolutionary groups and enable military intelligence and offensive operations. Especially under Martial Law, localized peace talks facilitates tight surveillance, including the use of drones with GPS, and motorcycle-riding death squads.

The GRP’s decision not to participate in the 5th round of formal talks threatens to squander the goodwill and the gains that have already been achieved in the peace negotiations in the past nine months, especially in the crafting of a substantive agreement on social and economic reforms.

The NDFP has pursued the negotiations with the Duterte government in good faith, and in a non-adversarial fashion, likewise presuming the other Party’s good faith. However, it has been continually besieged by conflicting, contradictory, and cross-purpose statements and actions that have beclouded the real intentions of the GRP.

The people’s interest, immediate and long term, is the paramount consideration in the NDFP’s engagement in negotiations to resolve the armed conflict and achieve a just peace.
The NDFP is ready to resume the fifth round of formal talks on the substantive agenda of social and economic reforms when the GRP is willing to do so.###