NDFP negotiator Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma
A communist rebel negotiator slammed what he called the “persistent disinformation” about the purportedly imminent forging of an indefinite bilateral ceasefire.
Benito Tiamzon, a member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ peace panel, belied reports quoting Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, the chief government negotiator, that a bilateral ceasefire might be signed by December 10, International Human Rights Day.
The NDFP, in a statement, said this was “Tiamzon’s second denial in four days” and the rebels’ “third rejoinder in a week to a series of news reports that have come out since November 7 that a bilateral ceasefire agreement was in the works.”
Tiamzon, who joined the rebel panel after being released on bail from detention, cited a report in a Mindanao-based online news site in which Bello claimed only “technical” hurdles such as agreeing on the definition of “hostile acts” and “buffer zones” were in the way of the inking a ceasefire agreement.
He also denied that the NDFP and government panels have been exchanging drafts on the ceasefire agreement since formal negotiations resumed in August.
The rebel negotiator said Bello’s statements indicated “a campaign by the GRP (government) to drum up false news about an impending bilateral ceasefire in order to gloss over the serious obstacles put up by the GRP to the forging of a more stable ceasefire.”
He stressed that what remains in place are unilateral ceasefires declared by the NDFP and government in August and that a bilateral ceasefire agreement would is unlikely to be signed “in the near future” in the face of persistent reports, both by rebel units and human rights groups, of alleged violations by state security forces.
The alleged military violations of the government’s ceasefire declaration include the occupation of communities and public structures like barangay halls, daycare centers and schools, and the harassment and interrogation of civilians suspected of being rebel supporters.
The rebels and human rights groups have also accused state forces of using the anti-drug campaign “Oplan Tokhang” as a pretext to harass suspected communist sympathizers.
In the meantime, he said, the government has yet to act on its pledge to release a “substantial number” of the more than 400 political prisoners, including three NDFP consultants.
“With the NPA (New People’s Army) restrained from mounting offensives, the AFP and PNP continue to violate the people’s rights with impunity,” Tiamzon said as he warned that “under such conditions, even the unilateral ceasefire would prove difficult to maintain.”
http://interaksyon.com/article/134365/ndfps-tiamzon-blasts-grp-disinformation-on-bilateral-ceasefire
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