THE Philippine government’s peace panel in the ongoing talks with the National Democratic Front-Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (NDF-CPP-NPA) said last Tuesday that it was “distressed and extremely disturbed” by the recent attacks mounted by the NPA in various parts of the country.
During the last meeting of the two peace panels in Rome, Italy, last week, NDF panel Chairman Fidel Agcaoili said that henceforth, the leaders of the fighting forces – the NPA – will have to make the decision on whether to carry on with the unilateral ceasefire, based on their appreciation of the conditions on the ground.
Last Wednesday, the CCP Central Committee and the NPA National Operations Command announced that they have terminated their unilateral ceasefire. They will, however, continue with the peace talks. It will be a “talk and fight” negotiation with the government.
There have already been two meetings of the peace panels in Oslo, Norway, and one in Rome. They have started talks on reforms in two areas – socio-economic and political-constitutional. The NDF even expressed its support for the government’s plan for a federal system of government.
But the two sides appeared to be divided on the matter of political prisoners. The NDF wanted the immediate release of some 400 female, sickly, elderly comrades, but the government side was not ready to give in. Then there was the charge of the NPA that soldiers have been occupying schools, day care centers, and local homes in the guise of community reach-out programs in at least 500 barrios “within the authority of the revolutionary government.”
The new Duterte administration began with such high hopes for peace with the Communist rebels, with President Duterte counting on his close relations with CPP Founding Chairman Jose Ma. Sison, his former college professor at Lyceum.
This latest development – a breakdown in the ceasefire – has understandably “distressed and disturbed” the Philippine peace panel.
But we continue to hope that ways will be found to return to the previous understanding on unilateral ceasefires and that they will be able to move on to a single bilateral ceasefire agreement. There is still a long way to go before final agreement is reached not only on a ceasefire but also on reforms in government, but the peace panels must keep on.
Their next scheduled meeting is in Utrecht, The Netherlands, on February 22-26. Any misunderstanding that led to the recent breakdowns in the field should be settled, we hope, so that new progress will be made in the next peace talks in Utrecht.