Preliminary talks with NDFP to start next week

DAVAO CITY — Preliminary peace talks between the incoming Duterte administration and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) will be held in Oslo next week.

“We are now preparing for the preliminary talks in Oslo next week to agree on the agenda for the resumption of peace talks in July. We are also ready to agree on the drafts of important documents for finalization and signing by the negotiating panels and for approval by the principals in July,” Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the NDFP, said in a written statement distributed at the Pakighinabi forum at the Ateneo de Davao University on Wednesday.

Sison said he believes that there is no problem in the peace process that cannot be settled under the incoming administration.

“There should never be any problem in the peace process that we cannot discuss and fix promptly, directly or through our emissaries. We have the necessary degree of rapport to exchange views and come to an agreement quickly in order to bring the peace process to a successful and happy conclusion,” he said.

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President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will send incoming peace process adviser Jesus Dureza Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello and Hernani Braganza to Oslo, said NDFP spokesperson Fidel Agcaoili.

The NDFP will have a five-member team.

“It’s five because we need lawyers. None of us are lawyers while Dureza and Bello are lawyers,” Agcaoili said. CDG

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