Palace contented with ongoing peace talks in Norway - spokesman

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 26): Palace contented with ongoing peace talks in Norway - spokesman

Malacañang has expressed elation after the Philippine government (GPH) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) agreed to an accelerated timetable for peace talks.

”We are happy with the ongoing peace talks in Oslo, where both parties have promised to complete the work on the comprehensive agreement on socioeconomic reforms within six months,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a press briefing at the Palace Friday.

Abella said GPH chairman and Labor Secretary Silvestro Bello III considers the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER) the “heart and soul” of the peace negotiations.

The CASER, according to Abella, would tackle issues such as agrarian reform, national industrialization and foreign policy.

The accelerated timetable was agreed upon and submitted to the GPH and NDF panels by their respective working committee and groups, which held simultaneous discussions in the ongoing peace talks in Oslo, Norway.

Bello commended the Reciprocal Working Committee (RWC) and Reciprocal Working Groups (RWG) of both panels “for working hand-in-hand and agreeing on a fixed timetable for the substantive agenda in record time”.

"We, in the government panel, were surprised that the RWC and RWGs came up with agreements in so short a time. Discussions only lasted from nine minutes to 30 minutes. It was really morale-boosting for both panels," Bello said in a press statement.

The government RWC on CASER is led by Atty. Efren Moncupa, a human rights lawyer and former political detainee, while his counterpart is Juliet de Lima-Sison, member of the NDF negotiating panel.

Bello said the GPH-NDF Working Committees on CASER will hold their first meeting in October to discuss the framework and outline of the CASER, their work schedule and methods of work.

The RWGs on Political and Constitutional Reforms (PCR), for their part, agreed to hold their first meeting also in Oslo in synchronization with the RWC on CASER in October.

The RWG on the End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces (EoH-DF) meanwhile agreed to present their respective draft outlines for a Comprehensive Agreement on the substantive issue on Oct. 24 or the next scheduled Panel meeting, whichever comes first.

Bello explained that the simultaneous discussions of the substantive agenda would improve the chances of the government meeting its self-imposed deadline of forging a final peace agreement with the NDF in a year's time.

"We are right on schedule and the talks are proceeding smoothly. We expect a final peace agreement after one year so we can devote five more years of President Rodrigo Duterte's term in implementing the reforms agreed upon by both parties," he said.

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