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Truce between Philippine gov't, leftist rebels holding as peace talks resume

Xinhua, October 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Philippine government said Friday that the respective unilateral ceasefire declarations of the Duterte administration and the leftist National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) are holding as their peace talks resumed in Norway.

Government peace panel head, Labor Secretary Silvestro Bello III, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the second round of talks in Oslo, the third party negotiator in the peace process.

"The significant impact of the indefinite ceasefire declared by the parties cannot be overemphasized, including the confidence of our peace constituency on the peace process. We note that the ceasefire is holding until this day, with no major violations reported by either party," he said.

He described this as "unparalleled achievement," which should inspire both parties to advance the negotiations.

Bello expressed optimism that a joint ceasefire could be signed this month as what was envisioned during the first round of talks in September.

The second round of talks focuses on social and economic reforms, which the NDFP described as the "meat of the peace negotiations" and the "heart and soul of the peace negotiations."

"This is because it would involve addressing one of the principal causes of the ongoing armed conflict: widespread poverty along with issues of unemployment, underdevelopment, social injustice and so on," NDFP said in a statement.

But new NDFP panel chair Fidel Agcaoili raised the long-standing concern of the group regarding the release of over 400 political prisoners.

NDFP said it has kept its obligation on its unilateral ceasefire declaration.

"However, the promise to release the political prisoners seems to be suffering from delay after delay after delay," said NDFP, the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army.

Agcaoili warned that if "this anomalous situation continues," it can serve as a "disincentive" to the NDFP in further pursuing the discussions on prolonging the ceasefire and arriving at a bilateral agreement on a more stable ceasefire.

The Philippine government is eyeing to complete the negotiations with the leftist rebel group in the next 12 months to provide the current administration to efficiently implement the agreements reached, Bello said. Endit