Palace: Peace process still on

“He doesn’t see why the talks have to be held abroad.”

Peace negotiations with communist rebels are still on, despite the communist group’s leadership’s reluctance to sit down and talk peace just so that the conditions set by President Rodrigo Duterte are met.

With or without the participation of Jose Maria “Joma” Sison, founding chairperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and other officials from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), Malacanang said localized peace talks are to be pursued, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.

“Yesterday, we were briefed on the different agreements that were entered into and he (President) stuck by his decision – (that) ‘I’m (Duterte) open to peace talks, but it has to be conducted here,’ and under the conditions that the president has imposed,” Roque said.

Presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza added in a statement that the doors for resumption of peace talks with the NDFP are still open.

“This is, however, subject to the following wishes of the President that there will be: no coalition government; a stop in the collection of the so-called revolutionary tax; local venue of talks; ceasefire arrangement where armed NPAs (New People’s Army) are encamped in designated areas.

“In the meantime, localized peace arrangements may be pursued by the local government units with their local insurgents in their respective areas of responsibility,” Dureza said.

This “way forward” in the stalled peace talks was decided following the consolidation of various positions expressed during the command conference convened by the President Wednesday night in Malacanang, he said.

“The President also expressed his wish that Norway continues as facilitator in the event peace talks are resumed,” Dureza said.

Roque hastened to clarify that there was no change in the position of the President on the resumption of the peace negotiations saying that the Duterte merely asked for time to review all the talks in the past and was surprised when the CPP-NDF insisted that it will be held in Norway.

“He doesn’t see why the talks have to be held abroad,” Roque said, adding that the so-called conditions laid down by the President are reasonable.

Localized peace talks will be pursued instead and some local government officials are already engaged in it resulting in the surrender of rebels, particularly in Davao, he said.

Insofar as Norway is concerned, the Norwegians can still help in any which way they want, Roque said.

“I just don’t know what will be their participation. Let’s just say that the President did not dispute that Norwegians can be a third party facilitator. But there was no outright statement that they will continue to be a third party facilitator. Anyone can help in the process if they want. If the Norwegians can help in localize peace talks. They are more than welcome to do so,” he said.

Roque said he is no longer keen on addressing some of Sison’s tirades against the Duterte administration, particularly on the matter of the President insisting on the next round of peace talks in the country and not in Oslo, Norway – the third party facilitator.

“I know some of you get frustrated because you always want me to comment everytime Joma Sison says anything. I’m not under compulsion to comment on anything Joma (Sison) says. He’s completely irrelevant as far as I’m concerned. So Joma Sison can say anything he wants, that’s his opinion; he’s even living ten thousand miles away. So I don’t see how he can even be relevant,” Roque said in a news briefing in Malacanang.

“So excuse me for saying this but it will now be a policy. Dededmahin ko na ‘yan si (I will now ignore) Joma Sison, because he ceased to be relevant now that wala na tayong peace talks (now that we no longer have peace talks with them).