THE resumption of peace talks between the government and the communist rebels is a welcome development, but both sides need to take steps to prevent skirmishes on the ground from negating the gains made at the negotiating table.
The government and the National Democratic Front had already completed their third round of negotiations in January when the communist New People’s Army rebels launched attacks on government forces, even before the expiration of their self-declared ceasefire. This led President Rodrigo Duterte to cancel the government’s own unilateral ceasefire and declare an end to the peace talks in February.
But backchannel talks facilitated by the Norwegian government have revived the peace initiative again, with both parties agreeing to reinstate their respective unilateral ceasefires.
In a joint statement released Sunday, the parties agreed that the fourth round and fifth rounds of the formal peace talks would be held in the first week of April 2017 and in June 2017 respectively.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said the unilateral ceasefires are a prelude to an interim bilateral ceasefire, the guidelines for which will be determined in discussions during the first week of April.
The agreement said each party will take into consideration concerns raised by the other side regarding the conduct of the unilateral ceasefires that collapsed earlier this year.
Both sides also reaffirmed the validity of agreements already reached in previous rounds of talks, and the government has agreed to release NDF consultants who had been arrested after the negotiations collapsed in February.
The resumption of peace talks will also mean a reactivation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, which enabled communist consultants to participate in the peace talks without worrying about being arrested and detained.
What was left unsaid in the joint statement was what would become of the NPA demand that the government release some 400 more of their detained comrades, even before a peace agreement has been reached. The government’s refusal became the impetus for the NPA to lift its unilateral ceasefire in February—and to step up its attack on government forces.
Something too must be done to ensure that what the NDF negotiators agree to is carried out on the ground by the NPA.
Just as important, the communists need to speak with one voice—presumably that of the NDF negotiators. Having NPA propagandists stir up talk of war while the NDF seeks peace simply will not do.