Saturday, June 18, 2016

Envoy pushes accord with reds after talks

From The Standard (Jun 18): Envoy pushes accord with reds after talks

The incoming presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza  on Friday  urged Filipinos to stay the course set by preliminary talks between the government and the communist rebels in Oslo, Norway, which resulted in a joint resolution for the resumption of peace talks.

“After our two-day Oslo parley, there is now evident optimism and trust. There is mutual enthusiasm and hope, not only amongst us negotiators across the table, but most significantly, among us all Filipinos, in whose behalf all these efforts are being done in the first place,” Dureza posted on his Facebook page.

Dureza also described their encounter as “a reunion of sorts of old friends on both sides of the negotiating table but whose efforts in various times and climes in the past proved futile.”

The five-point agenda includes an affirmation of previously signed agreements; an accelerated negotiation process, reconstitution of the previously signed Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig); an amnesty proclamation with the concurrence of Congress; and the mode for an interim ceasefire.
Pushing peace. Members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan march toward a church in Quezon City to push for the forging of a peace agreement to end the decades-old communist insurgency. MANNY PALMERO
Among the key agreements the government and the National Democratic Front have signed in the course of the often-stalled peace talks are the Hague Joint Declaration, which lays down the framework and agenda for the negotiations, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, and the Jasig.

The exploratory talks held on June 14 and 15 resulted in the signing of a joint statement in which both panels agreed to resume formal talks next month.

Dureza said he believes the peace process will be given a chance under the incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, but acknowledged that the road to peace “will not be easy.”

“There will expectedly be humps and bumps along the way. But there is a destination that we must all inevitably reach,” he said.

“Our new President is taking the decisive lead and has shown us the way. Let us all stay the course,” Dureza said.

Formal peace talks between the Aquino administration and the Communist Party of the Philippines-NDF-New People’s Army bogged down in February 2011 because the communists insisted on the reactivation of the Jasig, a move rejected by the government after the original list, stored in an old floppy disk, got corrupted and could no longer be retrieved.

Sison had earlier asserted that the goal of the peace talks was to form a “coalition government” of the CPP and Duterte administration. This coalition would need to carry out “democratic reforms that would lead to national industrialization and genuine land reform.”

Rights group Karapatan welcomed the joint statement.

“We hope that all political prisoners—all victims of illegal arrest, torture and detention, most are persecuted because of their activism and political beliefs—will be immediately released… We fully support the efforts to substantially address the roots of the armed conflict through the resumption of the peace talks in July 2016,” Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary-general, said in a statement.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said  Friday  it supported the rsumption of peace talks.
“The AFP’s track record on government peace efforts is very clear. We supported peace talks with the Moro National Liberation Front, the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army, and now the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Any effort that can bring about sustainable peace in our country is a worthy endeavor that deserves the nations support,” said AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla.

The Kabataan party-list group said the speedy agreement on both sides to speed up talks was a good way to jumpstart the stalled peace process.

“The youth extend our warmest congratulations to the representatives of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the NDF for the success of the preliminary talks in Norway. The speedy agreement between the incoming government and the NDF on the points for discussion in the formal peace negotiations shows the sincerity of both parties to pursue just and lasting peace,” said Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago.

http://thestandard.com.ph/news/-main-stories/top-stories/208513/envoy-pushes-accord-with-reds-after-talks.html

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