NDF to CBCP: 'We never asked you to mediate'

From InterAksyon (Nov 13): NDF to CBCP: 'We never asked you to mediate'



NDFP chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni

Communist rebels said they had never requested the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to mediate in the stalled peace negotiations between them and the government.

In what amounted to a rebuke of CBCP president Socrates Villegas, who earlier said he was rejecting a proposal to mediate in the peace talks, Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the negotiating panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, which represents the rebels, said it was their “firm policy … not to entrust any entity with the power of mediation in the peace negotiations.”

“When the CBCP president speaks of ‘the request to mediate in the government-NDF dialogue’, such a request has never come from the NDFP,” Jalandoni, a former Catholic priest, stressed in a statement released Thursday.

“Such power to make decisions arbitrarily and impose them on the parties to the peace negotiations could mean grave danger to the revolutionary movement and people,” he explained. “Hence, the Royal Norwegian Government (RNG), which has been requested by both the GRP/GPH (government) and the NDFP to help in the peace negotiations, is asked only to be a Third Party Facilitator.”

Besides, he said, “The request to any third party to play a role in peace negotiations must be done by both parties. Both parties also have to agree to the type of role the third party will fulfill in the peace negotiations.”

But even without the CBCP, Jalandoni said there have been “persistent efforts to strive for a just peace” by several groups, such as the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, the Ecumenical Bishops' Forum, the Pilgrims for Peace, the Sowing Seeds for Peace and KAPAYAPAAN Campaign for Just and Lasting Peace, “which have prominent and significant Church leaders.”

“The call of these peace advocates acting as ‘bridge builders for peace’ to resume peace talks, honor all agreements, and address the root causes of the armed conflict, is a welcome positive impetus to foster the peace negotiations to achieve a just and lasting peace,” Jalandoni said.

In his November 10 statement, Villegas, who is Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop, said he was rejecting a proposal for the prelates to mediate in the “dialogue” between the government and rebels because the CBCP “will not lend itself to a fruitless exercise or to a charade visited on the entire country," and “does not find a disposition to sincerity and trustworthiness in the parties to the dialogue."

Villegas also noted what he called “troubling aspects” about rebel conduct:

• The NDF leadership at Utrecht has hardly, or if at all belatedly, acknowledged the many raids or attacks conducted by NPA rebels, thus putting in question whether the NDF indeed has effective control, as umbrella organization, of the activities of the cadres in its military arm.

• The ceasefires put in effect in past negotiations "have regrettably been used by the rebel forces to recruit membership especially in far-flung barangays that have had to labor under the burden of supplying food and sustenance to the members of he New People's Army."

Jalandoni said Villegas was mistaken on both points.

“It should be made clear to the CBCP president that the revolutionary leadership is based in the Philippines,” he said. “The NDFP negotiating panel is mandated by the revolutionary leadership to carry out peace negotiations on behalf of the revolutionary forces. The command and leadership of the revolutionary struggle are carried out in the Philippines.”

He acknowledged that the NDFP negotiating panel does recommend ceasefires “in connection with the peace negotiations,” but that the implementation of any proposal is decided by their Philippine-based leadership.

He cited the 27-day Christmas ceasefire of 2012 to early 2013, which was proposed during a meeting of both parties and the Norwegain facilitator in The Hague.
Jalandoni also called Villegas’ accusation that the NPA was a “burden” to people in the countryside a “grievous error.”

“The NPA and other revolutionary forces carry out pro-people programs of land reform, health, education including literacy and numeracy, culture and self-defense, among others,” the NDFP officer said. “These programs result in the improvement of the lives of the people, in their millions. Hence, the people cherish the NPA as their army, defending their rights and programs.”

He hinted suggested that the CBCP president was merely repeating “a distortion of reality” by the government negotiating panel and said: “Church leaders and other Church people close to the struggling people in the countryside would know that the allegation from the GPH peace panel is false.”

Jalandoni also disputed Villegas’ claim that the peace negotiations have not “borne substantial fruit,” saying The Hague Joint Declaration, which lays down the framework of the talks, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and other basic agreements “are very significant results. Internationally these have won recognition, such as two European Parliament resolutions endorsing these agreements.”

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/99117/ndf-to-cbcp-we-never-asked-you-to-mediate