An official of the National Union of People’s Lawyers vowed on Friday that it would bring the farmers’ land reform issue to court, a promise to the thousands of protesting farmers who were in this city for the “Kampuhan sa Dabaw.”
The third party facilitator for the peace talks between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front lauded the success of the third round of talks held in Rome, Italy.
“One instrument that can dismantle the great divide between you and the people is to have connectivity, to feel that Mindanao is one house and to feel that we belong to a one family.”
After a week of negotiations, the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines concluded the third round of talks here on Wednesday night, Jan. 25.
Jose Maria Sison, founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, missed the closing ceremony of the third round of talks with the Philippine government here after being admitted to the hospital Wednesday night.
Peace panels of the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front signed ground rules on the last day of the six-day peace talks, in the hope to speed up the negotiations on social and economic reforms.
In what could be described as a breakthrough, Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will convene the en banc assembly of the National Anti-Poverty Commission on Jan. 30—the first time in 10 years that a sitting president has done.
Government peace panel chairperson Silvestre Bello III said the basis of the request is Sison’s participation to the peace process.
The government peace panel and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines will meet again of the fourth week of next month to discuss the proposed bilateral ceasefire agreement and issues on the implementation of the provisions of Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law directly connected to the ceasefire.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that the Mamasapano skirmish which claimed the lives of 44 police commandos back in January 2015 was a Central Intelligence Agency operation of the United States.
