PRRD open for NDFP negotiator to come home

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 20, 2019): PRRD open for NDFP negotiator to come home

President Rodrigo Duterte said he is open to allowing the National Democratic Front of the Philippines' (NDFP) chief negotiator to come home.

"I think Atty. Agcaoili has sounded off he is coming again to talk. And I told the military and the police just allow him," said President Duterte, referring to Fidel Agcaoili, chief negotiator of NDFP--the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

This, as Duterte hinted about the possible resumption of peace talks between the government and the communist rebels that has been suspended in 2017, following the series of attacks on government forces by the NDFP's armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA).

Duterte underscored the importance of addressing the barest "sentiments" of the rebel organization to achieve peace, but made it clear that there should be no conditions if the talks resume.

"So with the NPAs, unless we somehow reduce to the barest minimum their sentiments, their hunger for justice, social justice, there will be no peace in the land," the President said in his speech during the 9th anniversary of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and the 25th anniversary of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) on Tuesday here.

The prospects of resuming the stalled peace negotiations, however, did not mean Duterte agrees with the "style" of CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison.

"I am not saying that I am now in agreement with Sison. I don’t like his style but I do not hate him. We are friends and we can be friends," the President said of his former college professor.

Duterte said he just wants to give time for the communist leader "to kindly find time to talk sensible peace."

"We have been at it for 52 years. I do not think that if you have not succeeded in just about five years, it’s a lost cause," he said.

"We go to the table and to talk about it. And if he proposes something which is not acceptable and I would say, “No, I cannot accept that." And if I propose something and he does not relish it, then maybe he can go back to the Netherlands," Duterte said.

The President said Sison can never come back if there’s no guarantee from the CPP-NPA-NDFP that they are committed to achieving peace.

He emphasized that the government is "on a waiting period about the appropriate time to talk about peace.”

"You know, if you allow this to go awry and if you are not careful with your words and you talk about reckless and all about fighting, this country can never succeed to rise and progress--even if you give one president five to 10 years. No way," he said.

Uncertain

In an interview at the sidelines of the MinDA event, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the resumption of talks remains uncertain unless the communist rebel group "sincerely commits to stop the attacks and extortion while negotiations are ongoing."

In November last year, Agcaoili and some members of the NDFP were supposed to arrive in the country in relation to their work as members of the NDFP's component in the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

It was canceled for fear that they will be arrested once they set foot in the Philippines.

Panelo said there was nothing to fear because it was already assured that they will not be arrested.

Although the resumption of talks is still uncertain, Panelo said the rebels "should grab at it.”

“It’s about time that they realize that their 52 years of struggle is just a fantasy now," he said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1062409