President Rodrigo Duterte (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Talk to your peace panel.
This was the statement issued by a peace advocate group to President Rodrigo Duterte as he terminated the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines without seeking advice from the government’s peace panel.
“We are greatly dismayed that Pres. Duterte terminated the talks without knowing about the progress achieved by both sides in Rome. Apparently, he was unaware of the many positive steps taken to finally end the 48-year old armed conflict,” Fr. Ben Alforque, convenor of the Kapayapaan Campaign for a Just and Lasting Peace (Kapayapaan) said Friday.
In a forum in UP Diliman yesterday, government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III admitted that he has yet to speak with Duterte about the talks nor about the accomplishments of the third round of talks held in Rome last month.
Kapayapaan said that among the gains of the recent talks held last Jan. 19-25 in Rome were an agreement strengthening the joint monitoring mechanism for human rights and humanitarian law, the approval of several provisions on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER).
The talks also resulted to an exchange of drafts on political and constitutional reforms, and an agreement to meet on the government’s proposal for a bilateral ceasefire agreement on February 22-27.
“Perhaps if the President were made aware of these and other positive developments, he would have not scuttled the talks just like that. Turning back on the talks now will squander the unprecedented progress made by both parties in the last six months,” said Alforque.
Kapayapaan urged Duterte to “listen and listen good” to members of the government’s peace panel and NDFP-nominated cabinet members who are set to brief him on the status of the peace negotiations next week.
A copy of a statement signed by hundreds of peace advocates urging him to reconsider his decision to end the talks will be submitted to the president, according to the group. (davaotoday.com)
