CPP: Immunity, other agreements should stay until formal termination of talks

From GMA News (May 3): CPP: Immunity, other agreements should stay until formal termination of talks

Until the formal peace talks are formally scrapped, the Communist Party of the Philippines wants the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees and similar agreements to remain in effect.

“In light of the recent bellicose statements of the government effectively terminating the (National Democratic Front and Philippine government) peace negotiations, the CPP and the NDF awaits a formal notification from the government terminating the formal peace negotiations,” it said.

The CPP said the joint agreements include:

- the The Hague Joint Declaration of 1990
- the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) of 1998
- the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG)
- other critical agreements “that were forged through difficult negotiations and which serve as hallmarks of the determination of the NDFP and past Philippine governments to work through differences and unite on matters of crucial importance to the Filipino people.”

Earlier, government chief negotiator Alexander Padilla indicated the government is ending formal talks and looking at alternative approaches to peace efforts with the communist rebels.

Meanwhile, the CPP contested presidential peace process adviser Teresita Deles' claim that the Norwegian government had been informed of the talks' "termination."

“(Deles) is lying when she claims that the (Norwegian government) has already been informed of the termination of the talks when she said that they had ‘mutually established’ in discussions with the RNG ambassador that the NDFP had supposedly ‘killed’ the special track and that the government of the Philippines (GPH) is no longer willing to go back to the regular track,” said the CPP.

“If the Philippine government is no longer interested in the NDFP-GPH peace negotiations, it should formally send correspondence indicating their decision to terminate the NDFPH-GPH peace negotiations,” it added.

The CPP accused President Benigno Aquino III of "showing great discourtesy and lack of manners" when the government unilaterally terminated the talks through the media.

It said the least the government should do is to formally inform the NDF and the Norwegian government that it is now terminating the talks.

“Peace negotiations are a two-sided interactive process. To end it, one side must formally inform the other that it is no longer interested in talks,” it said.

On the other hand, the CPP contested Padilla's claims of preconditions it demanded to resume the peace talks.

It added the NDF has not demanded an end to the government's Oplan Bayanihan war of suppression as preconditions for the resumption of formal negotiations.

Also, it said the NDF demand to release all NDF peace consultants "is not a matter of precondition, but a matter of obligation of the GPH under the JASIG.”

“On the contrary, it is the GPH that has insisted that it will only resume formal talks if the revolutionary movement agree to surrendering its armed resistance through an indefinite ceasefire. Over 20 years of peace negotiations have proven that critical agreements can be forged even if there is a raging civil war,” it added.

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