Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 28) — The Marcos administration on Tuesday announced that it will resume peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), as both parties acknowledged the “need to unite” to address national challenges, including foreign security threats.
Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Carlito Galvez Jr. said both parties signed a joint communique in Oslo, Norway on Nov. 23, agreeing to \”a principled and peaceful resolution\” in ending the armed conflict.
The NDFP is the umbrella organization representing communist rebels in the peace talks.
\”Cognizant of all serious socioeconomic and environmental issues and the foreign security threats facing the country, the parties recognized the need to unite as a nation in order to urgently address these challenges and resolve the reasons [for] the armed conflict,\” Galvez said in a media briefing, reading the text of the communique.
In a statement on Tuesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government has taken a “bold, meaningful, and optimistic step” towards a “unified country” in signing the joint agreement.
He called on Filipinos to welcome the government’s vision of peace, national reconciliation, and unity.
According to the joint statement, the parties acknowledge “the deep-rooted socio-economic and political grievances and agree to come up with a framework that sets the priorities for the peace negotiation,” with the aim of implementing relevant reforms.
The development followed a series of informal discussions between the two sides which were held in the Netherlands and Norway starting last year, and which were facilitated by the Royal Norwegian Government.
It was also announced days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted amnesty to current and former members of rebel groups who may have committed crimes \”in pursuit of their political beliefs.\”
\”Resolving the roots of the armed conflict and ending the armed struggle shall pave the way for the transformation of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA (New People’s Army)-NDFP,\” the communique stated.
In the first year of his term, former President Rodrigo Duterte initiated peace talks with the CPP, which has been waging over five decades of insurgency in the countryside. However, talks were terminated in November 2017 after the government and the communist group accused each other of violating announced ceasefires.
Following the death of CPP founder Joma Sison in December 2022, the party said it was willing to resume the negotiations.
The CPP-NPA on Tuesday expressed support for the resumption of peace talks but demanded that the government abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and repeal RA 10592 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 to speed up negotiations.
\”With the gut feel that I have, I believe, nakita ko [I can see] personally, there is that kind of commitment and also there is a kind of goodwill on both parties…to end really the armed conflict,\” Galvez said in a news conference in Malacañang.
“We are very confident, I’m very confident that there is something that after this joint statement, we can finally end up with the final peace agreement,” he added.
Philippine National Police Chief Benjamin Acorda also welcomed the joint communique and hoped it will lead to an actual peace agreement.
\”I hope this will lead really to a long and lasting peace and I look at it as way of adding more food to the table, sa mga Pilipino [for Filipinos],\” he said in a statement.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, meanwhile, said it is time to put an end to the decades old armed conflict.
“It’s about time to have closure, closure that is acceptable to everybody, to the Filipino people,” he said. “Maybe this is the final agreement that we can come to and matapos na rin iyong [finally end the] armed struggle.”
No immediate effect
Despite the signing of the communique, there will be no ceasefire yet between state forces and communist rebels.
\”Kung ano po ang ginagawa ng gobyerno, patuloy po iyong atin pong programa [The government will continue its program]. So, it is agreed upon that there is no immediate effect,\” Galvez told reporters when asked if there will be changes on the ground.
For the Christmas season, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said it is up to local officials to decide if they will declare a holiday ceasefire.
\”We leave it to the local peace and order councils and the area commanders, unit commanders to determine whether or not they will suspend operations in their area of responsibility,\” Teodoro said.
