Gov’t, communists urged to adopt 18-month truce

LUCENA CITY, Philippines— A peace advocate and legal scholar urged the government and communist rebels to go beyond the “ritualistic” annual Christmas declarations of truce and mutually agree to stop armed hostilities during the whole period of the peace talks.

Soliman Santos Jr., a member of the Civil Society Initiatives for International Humanitarian Law and currently a presiding judge in one of the municipal trial courts in Camarines Sur, said both parties should start talking peace on the general timeframe of 18 months needed to arrive at comprehensive agreements on the remaining items on the agenda, especially on socio-economic and political reforms.

Santos, a former coordinator of the Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL), noted that the timeframe was agreed upon by both parties in their “Oslo Joint Statement” issued on February 21, 2011 when they resumed the peace negotiations after an impasse of almost seven years.

“Now, why can’t this kind of unilateral, concurrent and reciprocal ceasefire be applied to the whole 18 months timeframe for completing the comprehensive agreements on the remaining items of the substantive agenda?” Santos said in a statement sent to Inquirer.

He added: “To be sure, a holiday not only from work but also from the fighting would be welcome by most people any time.”

A leader of an indigenous tribe in Sierra Madre in northern Quezon shared Santos call for a truce during the duration of the peace talks.

“The call is truly relevant in our deep longing for peace. How can both parties sincerely talk peace when they continue to kill each other?” Ramcy Astoveza, executive director of the Tribal Center for Development Foundation Inc. based in Infanta town, said in a phone interview Friday.

He appealed to both protagonists to continue to find ways to totally end the over four-decade insurgency in the country.

“They should continue their peace talks for the best interest of the Filipino people. We all say no more to senseless bloody encounters,” Astoveza said.

Early this month, Astoveza voiced fear about the growing presence of both Army soldiers and rebels in the Sierra Madre.

“We’re afraid that the growing presence of both armed parties in the Sierra Madre would soon lead to fierce encounters. If that happens, our people will again be caught in the crossfire and the tranquility of our communities will be disturbed,” Astoveza said.

Communist leaders have rejected the idea of a prolonged ceasefire, saying an indefinite ceasefire without first addressing the roots of the armed conflict through basic social, economic and political reforms would amount to mere pacification and capitulation of the revolutionary forces.

On Thursday, President Aquino announced an 18-day holiday ceasefire  starting from 12:01 a.m. of Dec. 16, 2011 until midnight of Jan. 3, 2012.

Last year, both the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines, along with its armed wing, the NPA,  observed a 19-day ceasefire from December 16, 2010 to January 3, 2011 to precede the resumption of peace talks.

The government and the communist rebels have yet to return to the peace table months after they first met in Oslo last February under the Aquino administration.

Peace talks between government and the NDFP recently hit an impasse following a disagreement over the release of detained communist rebels and the rebels refusal to lay down their arms.