A RELIGIOUS leader here on Monday welcomed the pronouncement of the Communist Party to discuss the forging of bilateral ceasefire agreement with the government.
In a statement, Bishop Felixberto Calang, main convenor and co-chair of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, said the pronouncement was the most positive development in the midst of the gloom surrounding the peace talks.
Calang’s organization, Pepp, is composed various religious denominations in Mindanao.
“If the bilateral ceasefire agreement happens, it will restore the timetable of the talks and allow the February and April negotiations to push in the Netherlands and in Oslo, Norway,” Calang said.
He said that a restored timetable would mean an “anticipation” of the unveiling of a draft Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms later this year, a blueprint for socioeconomic transformation that the Filipino people have long struggled for.
Calang said the resumption of the peace talks could alleviate the series of unfortunate events such as the government’s termination of the “Jasig” and the subsequent declaration of an all-out war by the Armed Forces.
The events quickly overshadowed the successful outcome of the third round of talks in Rome, Italy and the promising prospects of more substantive bilateral agreements being signed in future rounds, he said.
Calang said the “tried-and-failed” formula of an all-out war did not only dash hopes for the continuity of the talks, but led to the displacement of rural communities hit by aerial bombardments in the hinterlands.
According to Calang, along with the CPP’s pronouncement for a bilateral ceasefire, the CPP also ordered the New People’s Army (NPA), the CPP’s military arm, to release all members of the AFP and PNP under its custody.
He said that in the light of the CPP’s pronouncement, the Pepp, once again, voluntarily offers itself as a “Third Party Facilitator” as part of its commitment to attain lasting peace since the peace negotiation started in 2010.
Calang said the Pepp would undertake the formation of the Crisis and Peace Bridging Committees as part of the facilitation and is optimistic that President Duterte’s peace panel continues to be hopeful that the peace negotiations would be back on track. (pna)
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