By Professor JOSE MARIA SISON
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
It is completely absurd for Gloria M. Arroyo and her subalterns to precondition the resumption of formal talks in GRP-NDFP peace negotiations with the capitulation of the NDFP under the guise of a permanent or prolonged ceasefire that is not based on any agreement on social, economic and political reforms satisfactory to the people and the revolutionary forces.
By Professor JOSE MARIA SISON
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
It is completely absurd for Gloria M. Arroyo and her subalterns to precondition the resumption of formal talks in GRP-NDFP peace negotiations with the capitulation of the NDFP under the guise of a permanent or prolonged ceasefire that is not based on any agreement on social, economic and political reforms satisfactory to the people and the revolutionary forces.
The Hague Joint Declaration stipulates that no precondition from any side shall negate the inherent character and purpose of peace negotiations. The Arroyo regime’s demand for capitulation and pacification of the revolutionary forces ignores the roots of the armed conflict and the people’s demands for basic reforms. It runs counter to The Hague Joint Declaration.
The NDFP Negotiating Panel has already put forward the draft of a 10-point Concise Agreement for an Immediate Just Peace for the purpose of addressing the roots of the armed conflict in general terms and laying the basis for a ceasefire that can take place while detailed agreements are still being negotiated in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration and other agreements.
Attached hereto is the draft of said concise agreement issued by the NDFP National Council on 27 August 2005. It asserts the national and democratic rights and interests of the Filipino people. It is diametrically opposed to the sham final peace agreement proposed by the GRP, focusing on the surrender of arms and the dissolution of the revolutionary forces and turning a blind eye to the conditions of oppression and exploitation.
The central leadership of the revolutionary movement in the Philippines has authorized only the NDFP Panel headed by Luis G. Jalandoni to negotiate with the GRP. It is not going to authorize any other entity to engage in any localized talks with the Arroyo regime. Every where the revolutionary forces and people uphold their revolutionary unity and principles against the rotten ruling system and are ever vigilant towards the treacherous character of the Arroyo regime and the barbarities under the regime’s all-out war policy.
The Arroyo regime has brazenly violated the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) by perpetrating the following: the extrajudicial killing of political consultant Sotero Llamas, the repeated attempts to assassinate Atty. Romeo T. Capulong and the arbitrary arrest and detention of at least four regional political consultants in the peace negotiations.
The Arroyo regime is always boasting about its military prowess and its pipedream of destroying the revolutionary movement. The general public can visit the Philippine Revolution Web Central (www.philippinerevolution.net) to find out how the revolutionary movement is waging various forms of struggle to defend and advance the national and democratic rights and interests of the people, especially the workers, peasants and the middle social strata.
