131 House members back revival of talks with Reds
MANILA, Philippines—Nearly half of the House of Representatives, or 131 members, supported the resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
Legislators crossed party lines to sign House Resolution No. 636 which calls for the resumption of peace talks.
The resolution cited previous agreements such as the Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 and the Stand-Down Agreement in 2018.
Among those who signed the resolution were Deputy Speakers Neptali Gonzales II, Luis Raymond Villafuerte Jr., Loren Legarda, Evelina Escudero, Johnny Pimentel, and Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante and Deputy Minority Leader Kit Belmonte.
House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, also one of those who signed the resolution, said on Friday that the move sends a “strong message of support” from lawmakers “in pursuing the peace process as a way of ending the root causes of the more than five-decade armed rebellion.”
“We hope the peace talks will be resumed soon by parties without preconditions and in accordance with the previously set agenda and signed agreements,” he said in a statement.
Zarate warned against “peace saboteurs” who would derail the push to revive the peace talks.
“The saboteurs are at it again setting preconditions to the talks and issuing absurd militarist statements to scuttle the negotiations even before it starts,” he said.
“It is good that more and more people like our fellow solons are seeing the need for genuine peace as paramount and they are not swayed by the lies of these militarists, in and out of government,” Zarate added.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he is giving peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) another shot, months since he officially slammed the door on the possible resumption of peace talks with the communist group.
READ: Duterte gives peace talks with CPP another shot
On Thursday, Malacañang also clarified that the President is still open for the possible resumption of peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) despite his order to state forces to “crush” members of its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).
