Church group pushes for resumption of peace talks
An ecumenical group has urged the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to resume peace negotiations to help alleviate the impact of the global economic crisis.
The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) said the expected effect on the local economy by the worst global economic crisis since the 1930s should bring the two parties back to the negotiating table.
“The crisis can only worsen. The sooner they agree and resume the talks, the better it will be for the Filipino people,” PEPP national co-chair Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes said in an interview at the sidelines of a dialogue and workshop with church leaders.
The PEPP composed of leaders of the Catholic Church and Protestant groups have been holding regional dialogues to involve church people and peace advocates pushing for the stalled talks.
Talks between the government and the NDFP negotiating panels were called off in 2005 over disagreements including the tagging of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army as terrorist organizations. The CPP and NPA are among the underground organizations affiliated with the NDFP.
Duremdes said church people and other peace advocates should help push for the resumption of the talks and not leave these to the two contenting parties alone.
She pointed out that the global crisis is expected to result to massive job losses especially among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and those employed in manufacturing for export.
“The peace talks will hopefully help address the root causes of econ crisis. It is a most opportune time given the economic situation,” she said.
During the dialogue, representatives of the NDFP section of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) discussed the status of the negotiations and the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
The CARHRIHL signed on 16 March 1998 by the two parties is the first of four main substantial agenda that is supposed to be tackled by the two parties.
Representatives of the government panel failed to attend the dialogue and workshop despite their earlier confirmation to attend the activity, according to Duremdes.
But lawyer Edre Olalia, legal consultant of the NDFP section of the JMC Committee, which oversees the implementation of the CARHIHL, said prospects for the resumption of the talks are “not bright.”
Olalia said the position and pronouncement of government officials including President Macapagal-Arroyo which calls for a ceasefire before talks would resume prevent the resumption of the negotiations.
He pointed out that the NDFP panel had already stated that the roots of the armed conflict should be first discussed and addressed before the cessation of the armed conflict would be resolved.
He said the resumption of formal negotiations have also been hindered by arrests, extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances of NDFP consultants and staff involved in the peace talks.
Nine NDFP consultants have been abducted allegedly by government agents while 13 others have been arrested and detained, according to Olalia.
He said that because of the impasse, the JMC have not discussed and resolved around 4,000 complaints filed before the JMC against both the GRP and NDFP for alleged violations of the CARHRIHL.
The agreement embodies internationally accepted principles and laws on human rights especially those dealing in situations of armed conflict.