Navigating the Red maze (3)
Believing that he has offered the NDF ‘too much, too soon,’ Duterte said he will not release 130 political prisoners until the NDF agrees to a bilateral ceasefire deal.
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Believing that he has offered the NDF ‘too much, too soon,’ Duterte said he will not release 130 political prisoners until the NDF agrees to a bilateral ceasefire deal.
Although the history of failed talks and broken ceasefires since 1986 raises doubts about the trustworthiness of the CPP-NPA as a negotiating partner and casts a shadow of skepticism over the potential for meaningful progress, the formal talks resumed less than eight months after the late Simeon Benigno C. Aquino assumed the presidency in mid-2010.
PRESIDENT BENIGNO AQUINO III (2010-2016)
15-21 February 2011 — The formal talks awaken like a dormant beast after a seven-year hibernation.
December 2012 — In a rare convergence, the government and the CPP-NPA-NDF engaged in a "special track" meeting, birthing the declaration of a holiday ceasefire from 20 December 2012 to 15 January 2013.
February 2013 — The fragile accord of the special track talks shattered after the NDF presented uncompromising demands, including the withdrawal of military and police forces from Oplan Bayanihan and the cessation of the government's conditional cash transfer program — Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program — that the government staunchly refused to entertain.
27 April 2013 — The national government cut the cord on formal peace talks with the rebels due to the "swelling tide of violence" inflicted by the NPA on civilians, and the NDF's preconditions.
2014 — Under the guidance of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, informal discussions were orchestrated by "private emissaries" in a bid to resuscitate the peace talks. Regrettably, these efforts floundered in the face of a deadlock over the contentious prisoner release issue.
15-16 June 2016 — Preliminary discussions were held in Oslo, Norway, to reignite the peace talks, with peace negotiator Jesus Dureza, former Rep. Hernani Braganza, and then Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello in the government's peace panel, and Jose Maria Sison, Fidel Agcaoili, and Louie Jalandoni in the CPP-NPA-NDF group.
The inaugural round of peace talks slated for the third week of July was postponed to August to accommodate the release of NDF consultants.
PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE (2016-2022)
18 July 2016 — Duterte greenlit a six-point peace and development agenda, marking a pivotal step forward with an expedited timeline for the peace talks.
25 July 2016 — During his inaugural State of the Nation Address, Duterte unilaterally declared a ceasefire with the CPP-NPA-NDF, extending an olive branch in pursuit of peace.
30 July 2016 — Duterte retracted the ceasefire after the Reds ambushed government militiamen in Davao del Norte.
13 August 2016 — The CPP withdraw its support of Duterte's anti-drug campaign, denouncing it as "anti-people and anti-democratic." Nonetheless, both sides' peace panels remain optimistic about the prospects of the forthcoming peace talks.
21 August 2016 — The national government reinstated an indefinite unilateral ceasefire following the CPP-NPA's declaration of a seven-day unilateral ceasefire. Some 22 NDF consultants were released for the talks, among them CCP chairman Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma, who had been apprehended in 2014.
22-26 August 2016 — Initial peace talks with the NDF were held in Oslo, marking the end of an almost five-year deadlock. The round concluded with both parties consenting to declare unilateral ceasefires, reaffirming The Hague Joint Declaration, reconstituting the JASIG list, expediting peace negotiations, and enabling the early release of prisoners through an amnesty proclamation.
6-10 October 2016 — Oslo hosted the second round of peace talks. A framework for the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms is established to alleviate poverty and inequality in the Philippines through sustainable development, particularly in rural areas, upholding social and economic rights, ensuring affordable access to services and utilities, and implementing a fiscal policy geared toward growth.
8 December 2016 — Believing that he has offered the NDF "too much, too soon," Duterte said he will not release 130 political prisoners until the NDF agrees to a bilateral ceasefire deal. The NPA, he said, has been launching small-scale yet lethal attacks on businesses and facilities.
20 December 2016 — Both parties agreed to a unilateral ceasefire that would stand over the holiday period; and that the release of political prisoners could be deliberated before, during, or after the third round of talks in January 2017.
(To be continued)
