Initial talks with Reds to tackle prisoner releases, truce, 'new track' - Bello

From InterAksyon (Jun 3): Initial talks with Reds to tackle prisoner releases, truce, 'new track' - Bello



Silvestre Bello III

Government emissaries will fly to Oslo, Norway in the middle of the month for preliminary talks with negotiators of the communist revolutionary movement that will focus mostly on the release of political prisoners, a ceasefire and firming up the talking points when formal peace talks resume.

Labor Secretary-designate Silvestre Bello III, who will be heading the government peace panel when formal talks resume, said he and incoming peace adviser Jesus Dureza, accompanied by several lawyers, will meet with his National Democratic Front counterpart Luis Jalandoni and Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Ma. Sison in Oslo. Both rebel officers are based in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

“The marching orders of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte (are) to get the CPP-NDF leaders to sit down with the government again so we can talk peace,” Bello told InterAksyon.com in a phone interview.

Bello, an incumbent party-list congressman, said they would also explore “a new track of negotiation” to speed up the talks.

“The previous talks followed a framework that is sequential,” he said, referring to The Hague Joint Declaration that laid down the four agenda of the negotiations and the sequence these would be discussed: human rights, socio-economic reforms, political reforms, and cessation of hostilities and disposition of forces.

“Now, we will see if we can find a new track of negotiation in which the key issues would be discussed simultaneously, so we could fast track things,” he added.

He said the release of the political prisoners could be one of the confidence-building measures for the smooth resumption of the talks and that Duterte has not expressed opposition to this.

Asked for a timeline, Bello said Duterte did not give one.

“But taking the cue from the President that he wants to see improvement in peace and order in three to six months upon his assumption in office, we can assume that we have to come up with something in three to six months,” he added.

The peace talks with the communists, who have been waging armed struggle since 1968, have been stalled since 2004 over several issues, including the government’s refusal to release what the rebels maintain are detained consultants of the NDF peace panel who are facing criminal charges.

http://interaksyon.com/article/128583/initial-talks-with-reds-to-tackle-prisoner-releases-truce-new-track---bello