By LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is thankful to the Royal Norwegian Government, Third Party Facilitator to the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, for making possible the informal meeting between the GRP and the NDFP for the purpose of finding ways of resuming the formal meetings of the negotiating panels in GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration.
By LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is thankful to the Royal Norwegian Government, Third Party Facilitator to the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, for making possible the informal meeting between the GRP and the NDFP for the purpose of finding ways of resuming the formal meetings of the negotiating panels in GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration.
We are pleased with the opportunity provided by this informal meeting to exchange views with regards to the impediments that must be overcome for the formal meetings to resume. The informal talks were held from 13-15 May 2008 in Norway.
The NDFP delegation expressed its strong desire for the resumption of the formal meetings and took pains to persuade the GRP delegation to do away with said impediments. It is unfortunate that the GRP delegation did not bring any idea towards the resolution of any problems that impedes the resumption of the formal meetings.
We presented 13 impediments that must be overcome for the resumption of the formal meetings in the peace negotiations between the GRP and the NDFP. We stressed that overcoming these impediments is not a precondition but an obligation of the Arroyo government to comply with the agreements it has signed with the NDFP.
Among the 13 impediments are the terrorist listing of the NDFP Chief Political Consultant, Prof. Jose Maria Sison, the CPP and the NPA; the illegal “suspension” of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG); Oplan Bantay Laya I and II and the consequent gross and systematic violations of human rights; the persecution, murder, arrest and enforced disappearance of NDFP consultants; the demand for capitulation of the NDFP to the GRP in the guise of prolonged ceasefire before addressing the fundamental problems of Philippine society and the roots of the armed conflict; and the failure to indemnify the victims of human rights violations under the Marcos regime.