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.
National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace panel chair Fidel Agcaoili called the military operations in Southern Philippines and the killings of two activists last week as efforts out to sabotage the peace negotiations.
The recent clash between the military and guerrilla fighters in Southern Philippines makes the unilateral ceasefire declared by the Communist Party of the Philippines “more untenable.
An ethnic group decried on Monday the killing of Veronico “Nico” Delamante, a tribal leader of Mamanwa tribe was gunned down by unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle on Friday, Jan. 20 in Claver, a mining town in Surigao del Norte.
