PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

Real thorn to peace talks is GRP's refusal to respect past agreements -- CPP
November 18, 2004

CPP spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal released the following reaction to a Malaca�ang statement that the November 16 Hacienda Luisita massacre would serve as another thorn to the peace talks:

Let us first make this clear: the real thorn to the peace talks in the past few months has been the Philippine government's refusal to respect and carry out its obligations under agreements signed in February and March 2004 in Oslo, Norway. In particular, the Philippine government has repeatedly refused to undertake any positive measures to address the outstanding issue of the inclusion of the CPP, the New People's Army and Comrade Jose Ma. Sison in the US' "terrorist" list.

Having said that, the CPP reiterates that it holds the Arroyo regime and its mercenary fascist troops, as well as Jose "Peping" Cojuangco responsible for the November 16 Hacienda Luisita massacre. Arroyo's so-called impartiality is a desperate attempt to obscure the fact that her regime has always been partial to the interests of the Cojuangcos. For the past several months, the Arroyo regime and her Labor Department have not lifted a finger despite successive measures by the Cojuangco management to bust the Luisita workers' union and quell legitimate dissent.

We expect the victims of the massacre to file at the Joint Monitoring Commitee (JMC) complaints of murder, illegal arrest and detention, violation of the right to assembly, illegal house searches and other violations of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL)

It is up to the Arroyo regime to prove that it upholds the CARHRIHL by taking the necessary measures to punish all its military and police officials who perpetrated the massacre; and compel Hacienda Luisita to take positive steps, including providing indemnification to the massacre victims and addressing the long-standing demands of the factory and farm workers at the Central Azucarera de Tarlac.

The labor and peasant unrest at Hacienda Luisita underscores the need to address the national and democratic aspirations of the people by undertaking significant social and economic reforms. This is the next item in the peace talks' substantive agenda that the Arroyo regime is apparently not ready to discuss.