Church leaders on Tuesday appealed for the resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), saying this is a better option than getting bothered with rumors of destabilization.

The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP), composed of leaders from the Catholic, Protestant and evangelical churches, said the stalled peace talks between the government and the communist movement resulted in a lack of tranquility, leading to a “rapid erosion of the nation’s moral fabric.”

“We call on the [government] and NDF to immediately resume peace talks without preconditions and in accordance with all prior bilateral agreements,” said PEPP cochair Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, former vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in a press briefing at the Pius Catholic Center in Manila.

Other members of PEPP are the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF), National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, and the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP).

Sr. Mary John Mananzan, cochairperson of AMRSP, said the government should first confirm if stories about an alleged destabilization plot are true, or it might as well pursue talks with the rebels.

“Let’s see if these rumors are true, and if they’re not, let’s brush them off and move on with our lives. We should just ignore these stories and let’s focus on the resumption of the talks,” she said.

Peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the NDF, the umbrella organization of the country’s Marxist-Maoist movement, were stalled in 2004 after the United States and the European Union tagged the group as a terrorist organization.

Mananzan, however, pointed out that if the rumors were correct, it would be difficult to make the two sides sit down to discuss peace. The NDF’s armed wing, the New People’s Army, and its political movement, the Communist Party of the Philippines, were named by the military as some of those involved in the supposed destabilization plot.

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Ińiguez, EBF’s cochairperson, said the government could not be blamed for considering the NDF as a destabilizer.

“They have a basis because it has principles and efforts that are antigovernment,” he explained.

He added that should the two sides agree to talk, they should show genuine sincerity to attain a “fruitful” result.

Church leaders said anytime is always the “best time to seek peace and pursue it,” and offered their group’s help in mediating the negotiations.

The rebels have been waging war against the government for more than three decades to pursue its communist ideology.

ADB: Fiscal constraints hinder administration of justice in RP

THE fiscal constraints being experienced by the judiciary is hindering the better administration of justice in the country, according to a report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

MEMBERS of the bicameral conference committee expressed optimism on Tuesday that it would be able to consolidate the best features of the Senate’s Quality, Affordable Medicines Act and the House’s cheaper medicines bill, once Congress reconvenes next week.

IN a bid to put an end to the problem of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances in the country, the Supreme Court (SC) has approved the rules to govern the implementation of the writ of habeas data—the third legal remedy for the victims of human rights violations.

SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) Tuesday denounced a move of proadministration local chief executives to relaunch a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution with the objective of abolishing the Senate.

THE Sumilao farmers who continue to fight for the ownership of the former Quisumbing property in barangay San Vicente, Sumilao, Bukidnon, met with Catholic bishops at the Pope Pius XII building in Manila yesterday to convince the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to take a more active role in the struggle for agrarian reform.

THOUSANDS of farmers marched to Mendiola yesterday to commemorate the “Mendiola Massacre,” echoing the same demand—social justice and land for the landless—which tragically ended with the death of 13 protesters at the historic place exactly 21 years ago.

EXTRAJUDICIAL killings continue to hound the Arroyo administration this year, with the death of a carpenter accused of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Claveria, Masbate, and a former political detainee who was just released from prison two years ago in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

Church leaders on Tuesday appealed for the resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), saying this is a better option than getting bothered with rumors of destabilization.