NDFP Press Statement
11 February 2004
Oslo, Norway

PEACE TALKS HIT A SNAG

By Luis Jalandoni
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

As chairperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel, I wish to call attention to the fact that the current formal talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP have hit a snag.

The GRP and NDFP Negotiating Panels have agreed to tackle a 20-point agenda (see attached copy of agenda) in four days from 10 February to 13 February but the GRP Panel has used the whole day of 11 February to prevent full discussion of agenda item No. 4 on effective measures against the “terrorist” listing and thereby block the progress of the formal talks.

The GRP Panel has brazenly told the NDFP Panel that it cannot make any agreement on effective measures against the “terrorist” listing unless President Macapagal Arroyo can make a judgment at the end of the current round of formal talks that the GRP has gotten enough advantages.

It is clear now that the GRP is trying to blackmail the NDFP with the “terrorist” listing. In the first place, the GRP connived with the US government in making the “terrorist” listing in violation of The Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). The listing is baseless and malicious.

The truth is out that the Macapagal Arroyo regime is not interested in serious peace negotiations and is merely trying to cause the capitulation of the NDFP through blackmail. The regime has already made public its intention to slow down peace negotiations and prevent the prompt indemnification of the human rights claimants who won the human rights litigation against Marcos in the US.

The strategy and tactics of the regime in negotiations with the NDFP are under the control of the military and clerico-fascists (pseudo-social democrats in the Philippines). These two powerful forces have no genuine concern for the peace process.

In view of the position and attitude of the Macapagal Arroyo regime, the NDFP is inclined to wait for a change of regime after the May 10 elections.#