Arroyo regime prevents formal talks in GRP-NDFP peace negotiations

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chief Political Consultant
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
29 June 2005

The Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) headed by Luis Jalandoni and the Peace Mission of the Special Committee on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity headed by Rep. Satur Ocampo had constructive discussions from June 23 to 27 and were ready to sign a joint communique on the evening of June upon the arrival of Speaker Jose de Venecia.

At the bottom line of the communique, the NDFP Panel signified its readiness to resume formal talks with the GRP Panel. But Speaker de Venecia torpedoed the communique by demanding the deletion of several parts of it, including numerals V, VI, VII, VIII and the second paragraph of Roman numeral IV. The torpedoed communique is attached hereto.

The NDFP is most offended by the demand of Speaker de Venecia to delete the NDFP proposals for resolving prejudicial questions that have arisen from: 1) the "terrorist" listing by the US and other governments, 2) the pressures on the NDFP for capitulation and 3) the escalation of assassination threats on consultants of the NDFP negotiating panel, especially the NDFP chief political consultant and the senior legal adviser UN Judge Romeo T. Capulong.

According to reliable information, Speaker de Venecia was acting under the advice of executive officials of the Arroyo regime who are rabidly pro-US militarists like the former generals executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Angelo Reyes and clerico-fascists like longtime national security adviser Norberto Gonzalez and OPAPP secretary Teresita Deles. These officials are known to demand the capitulation of the NDFP under the guise of pushing a sham peace agreement of empty generalities and a prolonged ceasefire merely to pacify and disarm the revolutionary forces and people.

So long as it stays in power, the Arroyo regime will continue to prevent the resumption of the formal talks in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. These can move forward only when the Arroyo regime is replaced by a government that is not extremely servile to the US, that complies with The Hague Joint Agreement and other agreements and that agrees with the NDFP to address the roots of the armed conflict through social, economic and political reforms.

It was Gloria M. Arroyo herself and her militarist and clerico-fascist sycophants who asked the US government in November 2001 and again in August 2002 to designate the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army and the NDFP chief political consultant as "foreign terrorists". They should be marked for their treachery and cast away as enemies of the Filipino people.

The Filipino people must remove Arroyo and her ultra-reactionary cohorts from power as soon as possible to pave the way for the resumption of formal talks in the peace negotiations. These callous enemies of the Filipino people must be defeated by the mass movement. They are against the people's demands for national liberation, democracy, development, social justice and durable peace. They have consistently sabotaged the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.###


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