The National Democratic Front of the Philippines lauded Congress Friday for its “positive move” as lawmakers adopted a resolution pushing for the resumption of President Rodrigo Duterte’s peace negotiations with the communist rebels.
NDFP peace panel chairman Fidel Agcaoili said the communist group welcomed the passing of House Resolution 1803 by the House Special Committee on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity.
“The resolution is a positive move by the committee members and contributes to calls of various other sectors and groups to continue the peace negotiations,” Agcaoili said in a statement.
He hoped the resolution would encourage the President to “go back to the negotiating table and work towards a just and lasting peace.”
Agcaoili said there were already “significant advancements in the negotiations” when Duterte decided to unilaterally scrap the talks in November 2017.
According to the NDFP official, the talks already produced tentative agreements on the specific sections on the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms.
These sections covered the peace process, agrarian reform, rural development, and even economic development.
He also regarded the coordinated unilateral ceasefire and the amnesty of all political prisoners listed by the NDFP as among the significant developments brought by negotiations.
“These agreements had been formulated and initialed by representatives of the GRP and NDFP during the monthly informal or back-channel talks from March to June 2018 and were subject to finalization in the aborted fifth round of formal talks on June 28, 2018,” he said.
Even with the setbacks, forcing the doors to peace to be closed, Agcaoili expressed the NDFP’s willingness to come to terms should the President return to meet them in the negotiating table.
“The NDFP is always open to the resumption of peace negotiations in accordance with all signed agreements such as The Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantee, and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, without preconditions,” Agcaoili said.
The resolution, which seeks to resume the government’s peace negotiations with the communist group, hopes to complete the comprehensive agreements of social, economic, and political reforms to lay the basis for a just and lasting peace.
