GPH, NPA ceasefire working; Army says no incident in the boondocks

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 24): GPH, NPA ceasefire working; Army says no incident in the boondocks

They too, wishes for peace – hopefully for a long term. However temporary, 10th Infantry Division spokesperson Capt. Rhyan Batchar said the ceasefire from both the government and the communist insurgents have given them respite from fighting.

“We also quest for peace,” Batchar told reporters at Wednesday’s AFP-PNP press corps. And, since the ceasefire took effect at the resumption of the peace talks in Oslo, Norway, Batchar said there has been no security incident in the countryside reported.

“There has been no recorded engagement between our troops and the our fellow NPA (New People’s Army),” Batchar said hoping that a final agreement with the National Democratic Front (NDF) will be achieved. “We are one with the government in the pursuit for peace,” he added.

The mode of interim ceasefire is one of the two remaining items which remain unresolved in the ongoing talks in Oslo. The other is the amnesty proclamation for the release of all detained political prisoners, subject to concurrence by Congress.

This developed, after the GPH and the NDF on Tuesday agreed on three of five substantive issues, including a formal commitment to accelerate the process of forging a political settlement during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The three major issues settled by the panels during a four-hour negotiation to settle minor conflicting positions are the Affirmation of previously-signed agreements; Reconstitution of the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) list; and, the Accelerated process for negotiations, including the timeline for the completion of the remaining substantive agenda for the talks: socio-economic reforms; political and economic reforms; and end of hostilities and disposition of forces, including the Joint Monitoring Committee.

"It was a frank and honest discussion among friends. We are candid with each other, knowing that we share the common agenda of peace," said Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, the chair of the government panel.

While there were heated discussions, at times, Bello it was normal during negotiations.

In a press statement, Bello said all agreements signed during peace negotiations from the time of President Corazon Aquino up to the present were re-affirmed "subject to enhancements that may be mutually agreed upon later by both panels."

"We may need these enhancements in the future as we do not want to be tied down by the rigidity of the past. Learning from mistakes of the previous negotiations, we want to explore all options to move the process fast forward.

The agreements that were re-affirmed include The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, Breukelen Joint Statement of 1994, the JASIG, and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CAHRHIL).

Bello added that to accelerate the pace of peace negotiations, both panels agreed to activate the Reciprocal Working Committee on the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER) as well as the Reciprocal Working Groups (RWGs) on Political and Constitutional Reforms (PCR) and End of Hostilities-Disposition of Forces (EOH-DOF).

Bello explained that the RWC and the RWGs would hold simultaneous discussions on substantive issues separate from formal meetings being scheduled at the panel level. He said RWC and the RWGs may hold discussions on their own at the venue of their choice.

Bello also noted that both panels also agreed to exert best efforts to complete discussions on socio-economic reforms within six months so that a comprehensive agreement on the issue may be signed at the panel level.

They also agreed to reconstitute the list of NDF consultants who shall be immune from arrest in order to allow them to participate in the peace process. The NDF leaders informed the government panel that the list would contain the names of 54 consultants who are classified as "publicly-known" and "assumed names" of 87 guerrilla leaders who are still underground but involved in the consultation for the peace process.

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