Norwegian Special Envoy to the Philippine peace process Elisabeth Slåttum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited the need for local intiatives on peacebuilding in a forum held in Oslo Photo by Macel Ingles
Norwegian Special Envoy to the Philippine peace process Elisabeth Slåttum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said civil society should put pressure on the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) to return to the negotiating table to address the substantive agenda in the peace process.
In a local peace
forum on peace-building in the Philippines held in Oslo last June 5, Slåttum
underscored the importance played by civil society, peace NGOs, civic and
church organizations in pushing for the historic peace treaty signed in March
2014 between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF).
"(The
GRP-NDF peace talks) is a lonely process and civil society is what we need.
There should be a formal mechanism between the (negotiating) table and the
ground. This is important to pressure (negotiating) parties to stay on the
table and feel ownership of the process," Slåttum said.
She cited the
case of the Colombia peace process where three formal mechanisms were used to
include civil society in the process: university-led people’s consultations
were held where recommendations on land reform were submitted to the
negotiating parties, a website was opened where the public could write their
suggestions to the process, and sending of experts to the negotiating table in
the Havana talks between the Colombian government and the guerrilla group,
Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).
"To have a
sustainable peace, we need inclusion," Slåttum further said, but also
warned that too much inclusion may also disrupt the process so "balance is
needed".
She also admitted
that the peace process involving the GRP and the NDF has more downs than ups in
the last 15 years and has been bogged down by procedural questions such as
terrorist listing, ceasefire conditions, and releases of political prisoners.
"On the
substantive agenda, things have not progressed (and) that is where we want to
have more progress," she pointed out.
She added the
talks have also been hampered by the "mountain of distrust" between
the two parties and that this needs to be addressed for the talks to move
forward.
However, she
expressed optimism that the talks will continue as Norway remains open to
exploratory talks with both parties but also is not sure if the country
"can get the parties back to the table and make that commitment" to
move the process forward at this time.
"We should
not lose faith, but it is important to be prepared when the time is
right," she emphasized in the meeting and reminded everyone that "the
peace process is a marathon and not a sprint".
NDF STILL
OPEN TO TALKS
Meanwhile, NDF
Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison, in an online interview told ABS-CBN
Europe News Bureau that the NDF is still open to exploratory talks with the
Philippine government.
"Ang NDFP
handa pa rin makipag-usap sa GPH,” Sison wrote to this reporter. He also said
that this will be communicated to the Norwegian envoy in a letter to be sent by
Louie Jalandoni, head of the NDF Peace Negotiating Panel.
"(Jalandoni
) just recommended to the NDFP National Executive Committee that the
exploratory talks be continued in Oslo
between the NDFP and GPH teams," Sison added.
However, he also
pointed out that "the filing of charges against Louie and the arrest of
[NDFP consultant Adelberto] Silva and others in quick succession are all
malicious and vicious and prejudice the continuance of the aforesaid
exploratory talks."
He also warned
that "they can push the NDFP National Executive Committee to stop or delay
the holding of the exploratory talks. However, Louie and I have not withdrawn
our recommendations to let the exploratory talks continues".
"These talks
are still the way to discuss and agree on how to effect truce and cooperation
and the compliance with existing agreements, especially JASIG (Joint Agreement
on Safety and Immunity Guarantees) and CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on
Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law)," Sison
added.
"In this
regard, the NDFP panel and consultants fully agree with the desire of the Royal
Norwegian Government (RNG) as third party facilitator that exploratory talks
continue. Elisabeth (Slåttum) is doing excellent work in encouraging the NDFP
and the GPH to continue the talks," he further added.
The RNG has
served as third party facilitator to the peace talks since 2001. The last
formal talks was last held in 2011 where optimism was high after the Philippine
government panel chief negotiator announced that a peace pact can be signed
within 5 years. Since then, the process had been marred by ceasefire demands
from the government panel and the arrests of NDF consultants.
The NDFP is the
umbrella organization of several revolutionary groups in the Philippines
including the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the
New People’s Army (NPA). It has been waging an armed communist struggle in the Philippines in
the past four decades and is considered to be one of the longest running
communist movements in the world.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/06/13/15/mountain-distrust-hampers-grp-npf-peace-talks
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