ALLIANCE NEWS
May 18, 2015

WHY THE IMPASSE ON THE NDFP-GPH TALKS IN THE 46 YEARS OLD LONG CIVIL WAR IN THE PHILIPPINES

Los Angeles—Where does the road to peace in the Philippines lies?

The Filipino-American Community in the United States is wondering why while the Philippine Government is inching towards the passage of the Basic Bangsa Moro Law (BBL) as the culmination of the GPH-MILF Framework Agreement signed in 2012, the GPH is not moving anywhere in its negotiation with the National Democratic Front (NDF)?

Peace, A Complex Problem

While the Alliance-Philippines understand that the Moro Problem in Mindanao is a regional problem, still it is a complex problem but the Aquino III Administration was able to find a solution towards peace.

And that is acceding to the demand of the MILF for regional autonomy under the GPH process and for the MILF to tone down its demand for secession or independence to regional autonomy, a big retrograde step towards peace.

But the road towards genuine, just and lasting peace in Mindanao and the whole Philippines is still long and torturous. This will the MILF find out as it embark on a social engineering experiment on “regional autonomy”.

That is why despite the so-many prior agreements with the NDF, the GPH has chosen to stall the peace process with the it’s foremost social problem and according to the AFP,”The biggest threat to national security.”

NDFP_Aquino III Insincere

On the part of the NDFP Political Consultant, Prof. Jose Ma. Sison questioned President Benigno Aquino III’s sincerity in pursuing peace talks with communist insurgents after Aquino claimed that the rebels backed off special negotiations aimed at an indefinite ceasefire.

But Sison said it was Aquino who was being insincere because of the government’s pursuit of NDF consultants in connection with “the baseless and false” Hilongos charge involving mass executions of communist rebels in the 1980s.

“He is out of his mind if he thinks that he can get an agreement on indefinite ceasefire without complying with the existing agreements and without a Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms at the same time,” Sison said in a statement.

He said the government has violated tall the agreement it has signed with the NDF since the 1980’s “It is Aquino who lacks sincerity in peace negotiations between the [government of the Philippines] and NDFP,”

Sison issued the statement after Aquino claimed in a radio interview that Sison had proposed a “special track” aimed at an indefinite ceasefire, but the communist leader supposedly “took it back.”

Aquino III Fascist Legacy of Cruelty

Sison said. “He shows his bad faith, selfishness and incorrigible penchant for cruelty by putting in advance of formal talks his precondition that he will continue to violate JASIG and CAHRIHL.

“He seems to be obsessed with going down in history with a legacy of cruelty comparable to that of Marcos and Arroyo in collecting political prisoners and allowing the military, police and paramilitary in perpetrating forced disappearances, torture, mass dislocation, demolition of homes and landgrabbing under Oplan Bayanihan,” Sison said.

Last month, Jalandoni told the media in a press briefing somewhere in Quezon City the intention of the CPP-NPA-NDF to resume peace talks with the government.

NDF Peace Agenda

Even Armed Forces chief of staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. welcomed Jalandoni’s challenge to resume the peace talks.

Jalandoni said their willingness to resume talks was in response to calls of peasants and workers to work for genuine land reform and national industrialization.

“The NDFP was also responding to the efforts of peace advocates and the Royal Norwegian Government striving for serious peace negotiations between the Aquino administration and the NDFP,” he said.

More than 300,000 Filipinos have died during the 46 years of undeclared civil war in the Philippines.

For more information about the Alliance-Philippines please call (213)241-0995 or email us at [email protected]

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