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THE
National Democratic Front (NDF) said on Tuesday that it
is willing to resume the stalled peace talks with the
government and is not backing off, as claimed by a
spokesman for the administration.
“On the
contrary, it is the Arroyo administration that is
shunning the resumption of the talks,” said Fidel
Agcaoili, chairman of the NDF human-rights monitoring
committee, in a statement sent by Ruth de Leon,
executive director of the NDF international information
office.
“This is
a malicious and baseless accusation. On the contrary, it
is the government that has consistently turned down all
overtures for the resumption of the peace talks.
Worse,
since 2001, the government has been committing
systematic and widespread violations of human rights in
its counterinsurgency program, dubbed Oplan Bantay Laya
I and II,” Agcaoili said.
The NDF
quoted Lorelei Fajardo, deputy presidential spokesman,
as saying that the directive of the central committee of
the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to the New
People’s Army (NPA) on its 39th founding anniversary on
March 29 was proof that the revolutionary groups were
against the resumption of the talks.
In its
order, the CPP urged its armed wing to step up its
attacks against the government in order to prepare for
its 40th anniversary next year.
The CPP
also directed the NPA to undertake massive recruitment
of members and increase the number of its present
guerrilla fronts to cover all legislative districts in
the country.
Agcaoili
accused the government of unilaterally scuttling the
talks.
He said
the administration virtually suspended the peace
negotiations in February 2006 when President Arroyo
issued Proclamation 1017 declaring a state of emergency
and “concocted” rebellion charges against NDF chief
political consultant Jose Maria Sison, NDF peace panel
chairman Luis Jalandoni, panel members Agcaoili and
Juliet Sison and Vicente Ladlad, Rafael Baylosis and
Randal Echanis, members of the NDF reciprocal working
committee on social and economic reforms.
“All the
incidents of abductions, extrajudicial killings and the
filing of false charges against members and leaders of
the revolutionary movement constitute serious attacks
against the integrity of the peace negotiations. Even
the international community of human-rights advocacy
groups recognizes the impact of the killings on the
peace talks and puts the blame on the government,”
Agcaoili said.
The NDFP
has been consistent in its statements that key issues
are impeding the resumption of the negotiations and
these include the repeated declaration of all-out war
against the underground movement, initiation of
localized talks, the campaigns of the government against
the revolutionary forces, failure of the government to
comply with its obligations under the Oslo Joint
Statements I and II regarding the blacklisting of the
CPP, NPA and Sison, and the continuing arrest and
detention of its consultants.
“The NDF
peace panel has not been remiss in its duty to continue
calling for the resumption for the peace talks and the
removal of these major impediments the GRP has placed in
their way that make it impossible to proceed. We
continue to call on the government to open its lines of
communication and buckle down to work and resume
negotiations,” Agcaoili called on the government. |
