From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Nov 6): Reds move to get peace talks on ‘special track’
Moves to hurdle the impasse in the peace talks between the government and the
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) continue despite general
pessimism over the failure of both parties to attain a breakthrough.
Lawyer Edre Olalia, secretary general of
the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), who is also legal consultant to
the NDFP peace panel, said that despite bumps on the road, the NDFP had proposed
hastening negotiations via a special track running “parallel and complementary”
to the regular talks track. Both parties were about to tackle the
second of a four-part agenda—on socio-economic reforms—when major disagreements
brought the formal negotiations to a halt last year. Olalia said the “special track” basically
consisted of the NDFP’s earlier proposal for a 10-point alliance and truce with
the government, and has been proffered again by the NDFP to hasten the
negotiations. He said an emissary from the Aquino
administration was sent to the Netherlands in October to discuss the NDFP’s
proposal with the negotiators. The talks are sponsored by Norway and held in
Oslo while the NDFP’s leaders reside in Amsterdam. “There has been movement in terms of
discussion, but as to status, I’m not at liberty to say, but
at least there’s movement,” said Olalia, who was quick to add that he was merely
expressing his opinion as a lawyer and his opinion should not in any way bind
the NDFP at the negotiating table. Asked if the talks had a chance of
resuming soon, he replied: “Of course, may pag-asa (there’s hope).”....
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/302228/reds-move-to-get-peace-talks-on-special-track
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