WITH VIDEO | Incoming govt, NDFP end Oslo meet with joint statement, eye formal talks late July

From InterAksyon (Jun 16): WITH VIDEO | Incoming govt, NDFP end Oslo meet with joint statement, eye formal talks late July



Negotiators of the incoming Duterte administration and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, with representatives of the Norwegian government, who engaged in informal talks on the resumption of formal peace negotiations, in Oslo. (photo from the Twitter account of Hernani Braganza)

(UPDATE 2 - 2:17 p.m.) Peace negotiators of the incoming administration President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines concluded informal talks in Oslo, Norway late Wednesday with a joint statement agreeing to resume formal talks in the third week of July.

The joint statement said the formal negotiations will be “conducted in accordance with previously signed agreements” with the incoming government panel promising to recommend to Duterte the release of more than 500 political prisoners, both those the NDFP has described as its “consultants” and, thus, covered by the Joint Agreement on Immunity and Security Guarantees, and the rest “based on humanitarian grounds.”

The statement was signed for the Duterte government by Silvestre Bello III, who will chair the incoming government panel, member Hernani Braganza, and incoming presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza; for the NDFP by its chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni, peace panel member Fidel Agcaoili, and chief political consultant and Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Ma. Sison; and Ambassador Elisabeth Slattum, special envoy to the Philippine peace process of the Norwegian government, which hosted the talks and acts as third-party facilitator of the negotiations.



The joint statement signed in Oslo, Norway by peace negotiators of the incoming Duterte administration and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (image from incoming peace adviser Jesus Dureza's Facebook page)

Both parties agreed to the following agenda when the formal talks resume:

• Affirmation of previously signed agreements
• Accelerated process for negotiations, including the timeline for the completion of the remaining substantive agenda for the talks: socio-economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, and end of hostilities and disposition of forces
• Reconstitution of the JASIG
• Amnesty proclamation for the release of all detained political prisoners, subject to concurrence by Congress
• Mode of interim ceasefire

VIDEO OF THE JOINT STATEMENT'S SIGNING POSTED BY INCOMING ANAKPAWIS REP. AYIK CASILAO, WHO WAS AN OBSERVER TO THE INFORMAL TALKS:



Among the key agreements the government and NDFP 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 JASIG, which protects the negotiators of both parties and their personnel from arrest and prosecution for the duration of the talks, has proven contentious with the NDFP demanding the release of several alleged rebel leaders it says are its consultants and therefore covered by the agreement and the governments of both President Benigno Aquino III and his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, accusing the rebels of laying down preconditions and using the pact as a pretext to spring their comrades from jail.

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate welcomed the results of the informal talks, lauding the “openness of both parties to jump start the long-stalled peace process, as well as their commitment to respect past agreements already signed.”
“The resumption of talks is a very welcome development, especially because the expiring Aquino administration had exhibited no genuine interest in resolving the state of unpeace in our country,” he said.

“Aside from jailing the leaders of the revolutionary movement, the Aquino government reneged past agreements and subjected the talks to a maze of roadblocks, resulting to an impasse. The peace talks was treated as a counterinsurgency measure, and shrugged off the legitimate grievances of the marginalized that has fueled one of the longest-running insurgencies in the world,” he added.

Incoming Kabataan party-list Representative Sarah Elago had a more cautious response.

Elago welcomed the imminent resumption of formal talks, saying the Oslo agreement “shows the sincerity of both parties to pursue just and lasting peace” in contrast to “the disastrous handling of the peace negotiation by the outgoing Aquino administration.”

But while saying they “have high hopes for the outcome of this new round of peace negotiations,” Elago said the youth “will remain vigilant and closely monitor the progress of the negotiations, noting that the outgoing Aquino administration … similarly signed a joint statement with the NDF back in 2011, but eventually reneged on honoring the pertinent points of the statement.”

http://interaksyon.com/article/129099/with-video--incoming-govt-ndfp-end-oslo-meet-with-joint-statement-eye-formal-talks-late-july