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Issue Number 24, August 2004
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Kapatiran Issue
No. 24, August 2004
PEACE TALKS
A Long And Tortuous Road
There has been a
civil war between whatever Philippine government has been
in power and the New People's Army (NPA) of the Communist
Party of the Philippines (CPP) for 35 years. The
political wing of the armed struggle is the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), a coalition
of groups, led by the CPP. Peace talks between the
Government and the NDFP have taken place, on and off, for
nearly 20 years, dating back to the immediate aftermath
of the 1986 overthrow of the dictator, the late Ferdinand
Marcos, by People Power 1.
Kapatiran has been published since 1993. In all
that time we have made only passing reference to these
talks, never devoting an article to them. In this issue,
there are references to them in the keynote speech by
Joma Sison. Marie Hilao-Enriquez, whom we toured through
NZ in October 2004, is the head of KARAPATAN, the main
human rights group. We asked it for help in clarifying
some of the references to various agreements arising from
peace talks, mentioned in the article. The explanation
sent to us was so comprehensive that we thought it
deserved to be published as an article in its own right.
Many thanks to the staff at KARAPATAN, Aya in particular.
Ed.
History
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)
first entered into peace negotiations with the Corazon
Aquino government in 1986. A 60-day ceasefire agreement
was signed on November 27, 1986. However, these talks
hardly progressed, as the Government of the Republic of
the Philippines (GRP) refused to recognise the integrity
of the revolutionary movement and refused to talk about
how to address the roots of poverty in the country.
For the GRP, the talks were clearly just about
negotiating the terms of surrender of the revolutionary
forces. In 1987, the GRP insisted on using its 1987
Constitution as the framework of any political
settlement. The so-called substantive agenda it proposed
was about "amnesty and rehabilitation" rather
than addressing the basic problems of the Filipino
people.
According to the NDFP, it decided to leave the
negotiating table with the series of events that proved
the GRP's insincerity, the height of which was when
police and military forces opened fire at unarmed farmers
during a rally at Mendiola* on January 22, 1987, that
killed 16 and wounded many others. * Mendiola is the
name of the bridge outside the Malacanang Palace, a
traditional place for rallies, and as close as the
Government is prepared to let protesters get to the
Presidential Palace. Ed.
The NDFP, however, said it did not close its doors to
peace negotiations. After further exploratory talks with
the 1986-92 Aquino government and later with the 1992-98
Ramos Administration, the formal round of negotiations
began on September 1, 1992 in The Hague, The Netherlands.
The NDFP engaged in subsequent rounds of talks in 1995,
1997 and 1998 with the Ramos regime, 1998 and 1999 with
the 1998-2001 Joseph Estrada government and March 2001
with the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime.
The negotiations are on again off again, characterised by
the arbitrary withdrawal of the GRP. President Fidel
Ramos suspended the JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and
Immunity Guarantees), which resulted to the arrest and
detention of certain consultants of the NDFP. The 2001-04
Macapagal-Arroyo government suspended the negotiations
following the NPA's admission that in the process of
serving the arrest warrant to Cagayan Representative,
Rodolfo Aguinaldo, a known henchman of the Marcos
dictatorship, the latter was killed because he resisted
arrest. It also lobbied with and allowed the US to meddle
in the talks by declaring the CPP-NPA-NDF and its
political consultant, Professor Jose Maria Sison as
terrorists. They had Sison and the CPP/NPA labeled by the
US government and the European Union as terrorists.
Meanwhile, back-channel talks were also pursued by the
Macapagal-Arroyo regime.
Agreements Signed
There were a total of ten joint agreements and joint
statements signed from September 1992 until April 2001.
Significant among them are as follows:
The Hague Joint Declaration was adopted
and separately approved by the two parties to the armed
conflict on September 1, 1992. It defined in clear and
explicit language the strategic goal of the peace talks
as the attainment of a just and lasting peace and not
merely the cessation of hostilities. It bound the
two negotiating parties to the following framework of the
peace process: the holding of the peace negotiations must
be in accordance with mutually acceptable principles,
including national sovereignty, democracy and social
justice and no precondition shall be made to negate the
inherent character and purpose of the peace
negotiations" (Article 4). It also provides
for goodwill and confidence-building measures to be
undertaken by both parties to enhance the peace process.
It outlined a mandatory process, substantive agenda and
sequence in the formal talks, which is fair to both
parties, appropriate to the conditions and ultimately
beneficial to the Filipino people. The four substantive
agenda items are as follows:
1. Human rights and International Humanitarian Law
(HR/IHL)
2. Socio-economic reforms
3. Political and constitutional reforms to lay the social
basis for genuine and lasting peace, and
4. End of hostilities and disposition of forces, upon
implementation of the three prior agreements.
The Joint Agreement of Safety and Immunity
Guarantees (JASIG) is the
second important agreement entered into by the GRP and
the NDFP during the exploratory stage of the talks. It
was adopted and signed by the two panels headed by their
respective Chairpersons on February 24, 1995 and
subsequently approved by the principals - President Fidel
Ramos of the GRP and Chairperson Mariano Orosa of the
NDFP. It is a binding document effective and enforceable
on both parties.
The JASIG is an important procedural agreement that paved
the way for the resumption of talks and eventually, the
holding of the formal talks. Its primary purposes are
"to facilitate the negotiations, create a favourable
atmosphere conducive to free discussion and free movement
during the peace negotiations, and avert any incident
that may jeopardise the peace negotiations". In sum,
it seeks "to protect the rights of negotiators,
consultants, staffers, security and other personnel who
participate in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations". The
JASIG also prohibits forces of either party from
undertaking surveillance, harassment, search, arrest,
detention, prosecution and interrogation or any other
similar punitive action against any duly accredited
participant of either side in the peace process. The
immunity guarantees shall cover all acts and utterances
made in the course of and pursuant to the purposed of the
peace negotiations.
The Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human
Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL)
is a landmark agreement obligating the GRP and the NDFP
to respect human rights and international humanitarian
law. The agreement binds the parties to uphold, defend
and promote human rights and to adhere to the principles
and standards of international humanitarian law.
Particularly, it aims to ensure the rights of civilians
as well as of combatants in the armed conflict are
respected.
The CARHRIHL contains concrete measures to address
specific problem areas, e.g. providing for the
indemnification of human rights violations victims during
the Marcos dictatorship's 1972-86 martial law and for the
repeal of repressive laws and decrees. The agreement also
enumerates and affirms the basic rights of the basic
sectors. Both parties adopted the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and various United Nations Covenants of
human rights as well as International Humanitarian Law
(Geneva Conventions and the protocols thereto).
The NDFP and GRP, according to the agreement, assume
"separate duties and responsibilities for upholding,
protecting and promoting the principles of human rights
and international humanitarian law".
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