The Government of the Philippines and National Democratic Front (NDF) will once again embark on a peaceful negotiation towards the end of armed conflict in the country. The fourth round of peace talks between the GRP Peace Panel and NDF will take place in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 2-6 April 2017.

Among the substantive agenda that will be discussed are the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-economic Reforms (CASER), and the bilateral ceasefire.

Witness the Fourth Round of GRP-NDF Peace Talks live from Amsterdam! Follow @PEACEGOVPH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for live updates.

OPAPP PRESS RELEASE: Peace Talks resume between GPH and CPP/NPA/NDF by Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process on Scribd

Opening Statement of Presidential Peace Adviser Sec. Jesus G. Dureza on the Fourth Round of Peace Talks by Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process on Scribd

Opening Statement of Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, Chairman, GRP Panel for Peace Negotiations with the… by Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process on Scribd

Government peace panels in talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF met and talked with the Filipinos based in Netherlands on 3 April 2017. The Filipinos community also vowed to support the peace process by volunteering to be a peace ambassador.

Joint ceasefire deal sealed

Government and National Democratic Front peace panels signed an Agreement on Interim Joint Ceasefire today, 5 April 2017 in Noordwijk Aan Zee, Netherlands.

NOORDWIJK AAN ZEE – The panels of the government and the National Democratic Front on Wednesday sealed an agreement on an interim joint ceasefire leading to a comprehensive settlement of the 48-year insurgency.

Both parties also moved fast to conclude provisions on a draft Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) meant to address the root causes of the armed conflict.

The ceasefire takes effect as soon as the guidelines and ground rules are approved.

The guidelines will govern such areas as the presence of armed groups in local communities; creation of buffer zones; prohibited, hostile and provocative acts including the collection of revolutionary taxes; and undertaking of joint socio-economic projects.

Also contemplated in the agreement is the formation of a Joint Ceasefire Committee and the prospective role of a third party in ceasefire monitoring and other ceasefire mechanisms in the implementation of the ceasefire, including the handling of complaints and alleged violations.

“Matters regarding a single government authority and taxation shall be discussed and resolved in forging the Comprehensive Agreement on Political and Constitutional Reforms within the framework of the proposed Federal Republic of the Philippines.”

“The Joint Ceasefire Agreement shall be deemed interim until a permanent ceasefire agreement is forged pursuant to a Comprehensive Agreement on End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces,” the agreement further provided.

The agreement was hammered out following marathon informal conversations among the panel members.

Signing for the GRP are Chairperson Silvestre Bello III, Panel members Mr. Hernani Braganza, Atty. Angela Trinidad-Librado, Atty. Rene Sarmiento, and Atty. Antonio Arellano

Signing for the NDF are Chairperson Mr. Fidel Agcaoili, Panel members Mr. Benito Tiamzon, Ms. Coni Ledesma, Ms. Julieta de Lima, and Mr. Asterio Palima.

Signing as observers are Presidential Peace Adviser Sec. Jesus G. Dureza, and NDF chief political consultant along with Panel adviser Eduardo Pamintuan, and Mr. Luis Jalandoni.

(5 April 2017; Photo by Joey Fornier)

Agreement on Interim Joint Ceasefire signed on 5 April 2017 in Netherlands by Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process on Scribd

 

Closing Message of Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, Chairman, GRP Panel for Peace Negotiations with the CPP/NPA/NDF on the occassion of the Closing Ceremony of the Fourth Round of Peace Talks

6 April 2017 | Noordwilk Aan Zee, The Netherlands

We conclude today the fourth round of talks in exuberance knowing that it has contributed immensely to the quest for an enduring peace for our people. By this common ground, we forged yesterday an agreement on the Interim Joint Ceasefire. This is a significant milestone in the peace process given the divide that has characterized it for decades. Let this Interim Ceasefire progress towards a permanent one.

Our discussions during the past days were indeed difficult and exigent. The resolve of the panels to move the process forward, animated us to achieve a breakthrough in a ceasefire agreement that will accompany the peace talks throughout, a ceasefire that matches in-step with the anticipated agreements on socio-economic and political and constitutional reforms that will address the roots of the armed conflict.

I personally commend, therefore, the flexibility of both panels in addressing the issues that tend to divide us during our discussions, their flexibility which allowed us to navigate the issues during the negotiations, can be equated to that of a guerilla who is likened by Professor Joma Sison to a poet in the immortal poem he wrote in 1968 and I quote “A guerilla is like a poet – keen to the rustle of the leaves, the break of the twigs, the ripples of the river, the smell of fire, and the ashes of departure” end of quote. We shall need the same flexibility when we discuss and agree on the implementing guidelines and mechanisms for the Interim Joint Ceasefire.

In officially concluding this round-of-talks, allow me to dedicate the headway we attained to President Duterte whose resolute support to the peace process has invariably advance our negotiations this far. I also recognize the guiding hands of the Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza and Professor Joma Sison for bridging the differences in the positions we took during the negotiations. And let me not forget the indomitable Fidel Agcaoili. Our perseverance and patience worked at the end. May I also invite you in thanking our Third Party Facilitator, Ambassador Elisabeth Slattum and her group, for their enabling support and assistance in the conduct of the talks.

While we celebrate on our gains in this round of talks, you will agree with me that more effort has to be exerted to truly harvest the fruits of the peace negotiations. Let us, therefore, claim the proud badge of peace workers that we now rightfully deserve.

I look forward to seeing you in the next round of talks. Thank you.

 

Closing Statement on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER)

6 April 2017 | Noordwilk Aan Zee, The Netherlands

The Parties agree to conclude the unfinished distribution of land and do this for free for the landless and poor farmers, farm workers, and fisherfolk, with just compensation to owners. The immediate focus is the distribution of the remaining balance of the lands for distribution under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).

The Parties agree that resources for land acquisition and provision of adequate support services should be mobilized to fulfil the requirements of this Agreement. These resources may come in the form of proceeds from the recovery of the Marcos hidden wealth; the unremitted portion of foreign debt payments, subject to approval of Congress; and allocations through the General Appropriations Act.

The Parties agree that agrarian justice should be dispensed quickly to resolve disputes in land ownership and related cases for the benefit of poor and landless farmers, farm workers and fisherfolks.

The Parties agree to form and convene Bilateral Terms to reconcile provisions of their Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) drafts on agrarian reform and rural development.

The Parties also agree to mobilize resources to work for the passage of a new agrarian reform law that would embody the agreements.

The Parties agree to accelerate the process for concluding a CASER by forming and convening other Bilateral Terms under the Reciprocal Working Committees on Social and Economic Reforms (RWC-SER) in venues in the Philippines and nearby Asian countries to discuss their remaining agenda items.

The GRP RWC-SER commits to complete and submit to the NDFP the comparative color-coding of the NDFP CASER draft within two weeks after the conclusion of the Fourth Round of Peace Negotiations.

 

Interim Joint Ceasefire clarified

Secretary Dureza emphasized that THERE IS NO CEASEFIRE IN PLACE YET until enforceable grounds rules are agreed upon by the Parties.

The Negotiating Panels of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have agreed on an Interim Joint Ceasefire (IJC). However, the Parties must set the ground rules to render it implementable. The guidelines shall govern the presence of armed elements of either party in local communities, the designation of buffer zones, the definition of prohibited, hostile and provocative acts, and the possible creation of a neutral monitoring body.

Even as the ceasefire has yet to take effect, the Parties agreed to designate the Chief Negotiators Secretary Silvestre Bello III for GRP and Mr. Fidel Agcaoili for the NDFP to ensure a peaceful environment conducive to the continuation of the peace process.

The Ceasefire Committee has commenced discussions on the ceasefire ground rules in the Netherlands and will continue without delay when the members of the committee return to the Philippines.

The interim ceasefire shall become permanent when the Final Peace Agreement shall have been signed, which will usher the end of hostilities and disposition of forces.

(7 April 2017)

 

Advance in talks elates Norway

Government of Norway extended its congratulations to the negotiating panels of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front (NDF) for moving ahead in seeking an end to the armed conflict following the signing of an agreement that will lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities.

Ambassador Martin Sorby, the Norwegian envoy to The Netherlands, said his government was very much elated with the advance of the peace talks as both panels signed a pact that set off mechanisms for a joint ceasefire between state forces and the New People’s Army (NPA).

The Royal Norwegian Government has been facilitating the talks between the GRP and the NDF since 2001.

Ambassador Martin Sorby met key members of both the Philippine and NDF delegations at his residence here shortly after the Agreement on a Joint Interim Ceasefire was sealed on Wednesday on the second day of the 4th round of formal talks at the Radisson Blu Palace in the cold town of Noordwiijk, about 50 kilometers southwest of Amsterdam.

The delegations were accompanied by Elisabeth Slattum, the Norwegian special envoy to the peace process.

The Philippine delegation to the meeting was led by Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza and panel member Rene Sarmiento while the NDF team was represented by its political consultant Jose Ma. Sison and negotiating panel head Fidel Agcaoili and Luis Jalandoni.

Dureza thanked the Royal Norwegian Government for hosting the formal talks in The Netherlands and for its full support being the third party facilitator of the peace talks. Jalandoni also extolled Norway for its efforts in the peace process.

Also present during the meeting were Secretary Rafael Mariano of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Representatives Henry Ong of Leyte and Ruby Sahali of Mindanao, and Undersecretary Adora Navarro of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

Sison and Agcaoili were joined by NDF senior adviser Satur Ocampo and members of the NDF negotiating panel couple Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, Juliet Sison, Connie Ledesma, Rafael Baylosis and Vicente Ladlad.

(10 April 2017)