Gibo Teodoro’s head-scratching insinuation that the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) was willing to surrender is simply untrue. To say that this is the basis for the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) agreeing to explore the resumption of peace negotiations is also incorrect. It was the GRP that first approached the NDFP and not the other way around.
Teodoro sings out of tune compared to what his colleagues in the GRP delegation is saying as well as what was agreed by both Parties in the joint statement signed last November 23.
We ask the GRP to focus their efforts instead on the substantive agenda items of the negotiations. Before proceeding to any conversation about the cessation of hostilities, we urge the GRP to go back to the negotiating table and discuss first the remaining substantive agenda items under the Hague Joint Declaration. This means discussing the draft Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) which primarily addresses the root causes of civil war.
The NDFP reiterates that the point of entering peace negotiations is not to arrive at capitulation, but to discuss mutually acceptable and principled ways of achieving just and lasting peace.
Julie de Lima
Chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel
