Gov’t, Reds eye truce pact before Christmas

DAVAO CITY—The government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) are looking to sign a bilateral ceasefire agreement before Christmas to foster a better atmosphere for peace negotiations.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, who heads the government panel in peace talks with the communist rebels, on Monday said the bilateral ceasefire agreement would be signed either in the last week of November or the first week of December.

“We are talking to have the final document [signed] either by end of November or first week of December. But we are eyeing the last week of November since we need to address other concerns in the talks,” Bello said in a statement.

The government and the Communist Party of the Philippines have declared unilateral, indefinite ceasefires, and agreed to turn these into a joint ceasefire declaration after their first round of peace talks in Oslo.

The parties initially planned to meet in Davao City for the signing of a ceasefire agreement in the presence of President Duterte.

But both parties missed the deadline because of several issues, including the pending release of political prisoners.

The unilateral ceasefire declarations, however, are still in effect.

“We have to postpone the signing. There are still several items that need to have a consensus, such as the monitoring mechanism, the parameters of hostile acts, the definition of buffer zones,” Bello said.

Discussions on the definition of hostile acts is crucial, as this will set the movements that are allowed or are considered a violation under the ceasefire agreement.

Bello said the initial commitment of the government to release more prisoners was being facilitated as “part of confidence-building measures” in the negotiations.

“Releasing of prisoners based on humanitarian reasons is on its way within this month. This is in line with the previous pronouncement of President Duterte on the releases. We are asking for some time from the NDFP and the public since the releases must undergo judicial processes,” Bello said.

He also said the government was already working for the release this month of the first batch of political prisoners that the communist rebels have sought to be freed.

Bello told reporters in Malacañang on Monday that the government was prioritizing those who could be freed on humanitarian grounds. These consist of women, the sickly and the elderly.

The NDFP also expressed concern about the alleged continuing presence of the military in communities supposedly performing bayanihan programs and anti-illegal drugs operations.

“However, there are persistent reports from regional [New People’s Army] commands of [government] violations of its own unilateral ceasefire stating that [military] troops continue to make incursions into the territory of the NPA in the guise of civic action and antidrug operations,” the NDFP earlier said. —WITH A REPORT FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA