The GRP’s decision not to participate in the 5th round of formal talks threatens to squander the goodwill and the gains that have already been achieved in the peace negotiations in the past nine months, especially in the crafting of a substantive agreement on social and economic reforms.
While we have gone this far and the Filipino people are rooting/supporting us, there are challenges that we must together address as we meet here today on the scheduled 5th round of peace negotiations.
The answer is not controlling information and threatening the media and the public of censorship, but government’s ensuring that complete and accurate information is accessible to the public.
Members of the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines greet one another at the Holy Mass inside the ballroom of the Radisson Blu Palace Hotel in Noordwijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands on Sunday, May 28. The photo shows a sign of hope on the resumption of the fifth round of the peace talks which the Parties continue to deliberate. (Photo by Altermidya)
This is what we ask of the negotiators on both sides of the table. Do not be afraid to take the bold steps that alone can bring peace. Intransigence is not strength. Humility is. That one has stood one’s ground is not necessarily the best that can be said of anyone. That he has sown the seeds of peace is to say of a person that he is blessed!
A Martial Law limited in scope, enforced with discipline and restraint, with respect for the Constitution and the inviolability of human rights, can solve specific problems. An unrestrained Martial Law, one that keeps its decisions and movements quiet and secret from its citizens, unconcerned with human dignity, will only compound the problem it seeks to solve.
In the strongest terms we condemn terrorism in its various forms. It is an ideology that is totally against the tenets of any religion of peace. Especially so when terrorism is perpetrated while our Muslim brothers and sisters are preparing for the holy month of Ramadhan. Terrorism distorts and falsifies the true meaning of any religion. It destroys harmonious relationships among peoples of different faiths. It creates a world of suspicion and prejudice, of hatred and hostility.
Karapatan strongly urge Duterte to immediately lift martial law in Mindanao, and to stop loaded caveats regarding putting the entire country under martial law. There are inviolable rights that cannot be foregone, regardless of place, time or context.
President Rodrigo Duterte presides over a special Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Guest House in Panacan, Davao City on Thursday, May 25, 2017. Duterte called for a special Cabinet meeting after declaring a state of Martial Law in Mindanao on May 23, 2017 following a terrorist attack in Marawi City. (Presidential Photo)
Sowing the Seeds of Peace opposes the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao. Martial Law throws out the headways in the peace processes between the Philippine government, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Moro National Liberation Front, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
