61 back House move on talks with Reds

A RESOLUTION backed by 61 congressmen has been filed urging President Rodrigo R. Duterte to resume peace negotiations with communist rebels.

House Resolution (HR) 1803, filed on March 22, is introduced by Tawi-Tawi Representative Ruby M. Sahali, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Isagani T. Zarate and 56 other lawmakers including from Mindanao.

Mr. Zarate said in a statement: “Peace negotiations should continue even if both sides have not yet ceased armed hostilities. That is precisely why peace talks must proceed because the two sides are at war. The no cease- fire, no peace talks policy being pushed by the militarists elements in the Cabinet practically negates the inherent purpose of a peace negotiation. It harks the nation back to Marcos’s failed military or militarist solution.”

The motion argued that peace negotiations under Mr. Duterte were “the farthest advance in the 25-year peace talks between the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines),” with the drafting of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) and the Comprehensive Agreement on Political and Constitutional Reforms (CAPCR).

“(C)ontinuing the peace talks would benefit the Filipino people, most of whom are poor peasants and workers, as the agreements on agrarian reform and national industrialization may address their issues and concerns and help provide relief for their economic hardships,” the resolution also said.

The resumption of peace talks would “forge substantive agreements that will resolve the root causes of the nearly five-decade old armed conflict,” it added.

The resolution further noted Mr. Duterte’s openness to resume talks, in the light of negotiations thus far between the government and rebel panels in Norway.

Mr. Duterte terminated the talks on Nov. 23 last year with Proclamation 360. This was followed by Proclamation 374 which declared the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorists, despite the repeal during the Ramos administration of the Anti- Subversion Law outlawing the party. The rebels have continued to push for the talks despite this setback. —