Gov’t, NDF peace panels OK 3 of 5 key issues

Three of five key issues have been resolved in the ongoing peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front ( NDF) in Oslo, Norway.

The two panels agreed yesterday on a formal commitment to accelerate the process of signing a political settlement while President Duterte is still in office.

The accelerated process for negotiation includes the timeline for the completion of the remaining substantive agenda for the talks, socioeconomic reforms, political and economic reforms and end of hostilities and disposition of forces as well as the establishment of the Joint Monitoring Committee.

To accelerate the pace of peace negotiations, both panels agreed to activate the Reciprocal Working Committee (RWC) on the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-economic Reforms, the Reciprocal Working Groups (RWGs) on Political and Constitutional Reforms and End of Hostilities-Disposition of Forces.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, chair of the government peace panel, explained that the RWC and the RWGs would hold simultaneous discussions on substantive issues separate from formal meetings being scheduled at the panel level.

“RWC and the RWGs may hold discussions on their own at the venue of their choice. We agreed that all RWC meetings will be held in Oslo, but RWG discussions may be held in the Philippines,” he added.

The two panels also agreed on the reconstitution of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) list.

On the JASIG, both panels agreed to reconstitute the list of NDF consultants who shall be immune from arrest in order to allow them to participate in the peace process.

NDF leaders informed the government panel that the list would contain the names of 54 consultants who are classified as “publicly known” and “assumed names” of 87 guerrilla leaders who are still underground but involved in the consultation for the peace process.

The government and the NDF panels agreed that all agreements signed during the peace negotiations from the term of the late president Corazon Aquino up to the present were re-affirmed “subject to enhancements that may be mutually agreed upon later by both panels.”

“We may need these enhancements in the future as we do not want to be tied down by the rigidity of the past. Learning from mistakes of the previous negotiations, we want to explore all options to move the process fast forward,” Bello said.

The agreements that were reaffi include The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, Breukelen Joint Statement of 1994, the JASIG and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and Interna- tional Humanitarian Law.

“It was a frank and honest discussion among friends. We are candid with each other, knowing that we share the common agenda of peace,” Bello said.

“There were heated discussions at times, which are normal during negotiations. In fact, we have to call a break on several occasions to cool off. But the general atmosphere was cordial as the session was punctuated by laughter and light banter,” he added.

Bello also noted that both panels agreed to exert best efforts to complete the discussions on socio- economic reforms within six months, so that a comprehensive agreement on the issue may be signed at the panel level. –