Moreno, Rhic Vincent T.

ENG 2-T
A Reaction Paper
2016-66502

The peace talk between Pres. Dutertes

administration and CPP-NPA-NDF: An evolution

Every peace talks address a particular context and conflict. However,

the peace talk between The Negotiating Panels of the Government of the
Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the
Philippines New Peoples Army National Democratic Front of the
Philippines) are now a crucial reference for other peace processes, given that
it is the most recent.

KALINAWAN: A forum on the situation of peace in the Philippines held

at University of the Philippines -Los Baos (UPLB) tackled deeply the different
struggles happening in our country like the roots of the armed conflict. The
deliberation in the forum are significant and apprising because it gives
information to students who have no idea on how the peace talks affect
them, it also talks about the roots of armed struggle such as lack of land
reform and development in rural communities, corruption in many levels of
the government, human rights violations (HRV) and foreign domination, and
it discourses the different gridlock areas between the government and the
CPP-NPA-NDF.

The CPP has two related components: its armed wing, the New People's
Army (NPA), which was established in 1969; and its political arm, the
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF). (Fernandez, 2015). The
NDF is the umbrella organization of communist-run organizations, and it
represents the CPP-NPA in negotiations with the Philippine government.
Founded in 1968 by former student activist Jose Maria Sison, the CPP
seeks to establish a new democratic state in the Philippines that will be led
by the working class and be free from the influence of the United States. The
group modeled its armed struggle and protracted people's war after China's
Maoist movement. (Castaeda, 2016).
In 1986, the administration of former president Corazon Aquino began
peace talks with the CPP, but this was unsuccessful. Another attempt was
made in 1995 under the administration of former president Fidel V. Ramos,
which culminated in the signing of two agreements: the Joint Agreement on
Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), which guarantees free and safe
movement for those involved in peace negotiations; and the Comprehensive
Agreement to Respect Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
(CARHRIHL). (Francisco, 2016)
JASIG is an agreement signed by the GRP and the National Democratic
Front of the Philippines (NDF) in 1995. It essentially guarantees the immunity
and safety of individuals involved in the peace talks. (Gavilan, 2017).
They are subject to free and unhindered passage across the
Philippines and also outside the country in relation to their responsibilities in
the negotiations. In addition, they are also immune from surveillance,
harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation or any
other similar punitive actions. The JASIG likewise allows parties involved to
freely go to their constituents on the ground to consult and discuss the terms
of the peace talks.
CARHRHIL is a landmark agreement signed in 1998. It recognized the
need to apply human rights principles when responding to the armed
conflict. It obligated both parties the NDF and the government to promote
the respect of and adherence to international humanitarian law among its
forces. It emphasized the urgency of protecting the civilian population.
(Palatino, 2016)
This agreement is meant to meet the needs arising from the concrete
conditions of the Filipino people concerning violations of human rights and
the principles of international humanitarian law, and to find principled ways
and means of rendering justice to all the victims of such violations.
The parties shall uphold, protect and promote the full scope of human
rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. In
complying with such obligation due consideration shall be accorded to the
respective political principles and circumstances of the Parties.
For the past three decades and five Philippine presidents, there have
been attempts to hold peace negotiations with the CPP and hammer out a
political settlement to end the armed conflict. However, the administration of
President Rodrigo R. Duterte was poised to be the friendliest with the CPP
given the positive developments in the peace talks. Negotiations once again
stalled after this, with alternating periods of conflict and negotiations.
One of the captivating topic discussed in the forum is the lack of land
reform and development in rural communities so that large numbers of
peasants and student activists went up the mountains and joined the armed
struggle. In the Philippines, out of the 1.639 thousand farms, 52.6 percent
are farmed by full owners, 10.0 percent by part owners, 37.3 per cent by
tenants, and the remaining 0.1 percent by farm managers. (Takigawa, 2016).
There are lots of farmers work to the owners of the land more than their own.
The speakers also talked about the HRV cases happened in the
Philippines, like the indigenous peoples advocacy groups indicate that
assailants often linked to the military or paramilitary groups killed at least 13
tribal leaders and tribal community members in Cabanglasan, Davao del
Norte (Saludes, 2015), and media killings that eight journalist killed in
Sorsogon. It is a pain in the heart that the family of the victims carry the
emotional scars of this experiences that last a lifetime without proper justice.
The corruption in many levels of the government tackled that affect
the trust of CPP- NPA-NDF to the GRP, like the graft and corruption of Pedro
Bacani, the ex-governor of Quirino province, compiled two counts of
violation of Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for
the procurement of two batches of NBEM-21 microbial soil inoculant
activator without competitive bidding.
The forum emphasized the foreign domination occur in the Philippines
like the United States of America domination in the Philippines that made the
Filipino as their puppet. The advancement of Filipino ideals and values, which
include the advancement of democracy and advocacy for human rights
worldwide, expelled. The current Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte,
however, is supportive of a foreign policy that is less dependent on the
United States, favoring one that prioritizes closer relations with
China instead.
The peace talk have a prime effect to the students because if the
peace talk failed, most probably, there will be a armed conflict between GRP
and CPP-NPA-NDF, that can affect to the students like the bombing of CPP-
NPA-NDF in public institutions such as university, hospitals and etc. New
Peoples Army (NPA) rebels in Davao del Norte province that left a
government militiaman dead and four others wounded by bombing in the
school of Compostela Valley. (Dumlao,2017).
In February 2017, the CPP-NPA-NDF declared that they will withdraw
from the ceasefire, effective on 10 February 2017, due to the unfulfilled
promise by the government that it will release all 392 political prisoners.
However, the communists attacked and killed 3 soldiers before the
withdrawal, which angered the government and make them declare also a
withdrawal from the ceasefire. The peace talks is informally terminated and
an all-out war is declared by the AFP after the withdrawal. (Mariano, 2016).
There is compelling reason that the CPP-NPA-NDF stopped their attacks
on soldiers, extortion activities and the burning of properties so that the
government announced a new truce and the resumption of peace talks, to
take place in April. The GRP and NDF, together with their respective
delegations of negotiating bodies, consultants, advisors, resource persons,
cooperator and staff successfully held the third round of formal talks in Rome
City. The fifth round is planned to follow in June 2017.
These days, the extrajudicial killings are reported, the CPP-NPA
continues to operate in rural areas while their founder, Prof. Sison, has been
hospitalized. However, this forum is valuable to the students because they
bear in the mind of the student the effect of the peace talk to them, it also
worthwhile because it tackled in depth the roots of armed, and it clarifies the
different gridlock areas between GRP and CPP-NPA-NDF. It presumes that
these two groups; the GRP and CPP-NPA-NDF will close the negotiation into
peace and success.