Headlines

Duterte meets with NDFP

May 18, 2016 | 6:30pm

DAVAO CITY – Representatives of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has met with presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte following his announcement that he is ready to resume the peace talks and appoint communist rebels in his Cabinet.

The NDFP represents the communist rebels in the peace negotiations with the government.

Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said the meeting was scheduled on Monday at the Matina Enclave residence here. He said the NDFP was led by one of its negotiators Fidel Agcaoili.

“The talks (with NDFP) have started. They already had a courtesy call led by Fidel Agcaoili,” Panelo told reporters in a chance interview Wednesday.

“Both sides promise to resume the talks,” he added.

Agcaoili confirmed his meeting with Duterte in an interview with CNN Philippines. He said the meeting was supposed to be held at 6 p.m. last Monday but it transpired 3 a.m. Tuesday. Agcaoili said the resumption of the peace talks was tackled during the meeting.

“President Duterte issued statements like the resumption of peace talks, the release of political prisoners and his meeting with (Communist Party of the Philippines founder Prof. Jose Ma.) Sison,” Agcaoili said.

“It seems that President Duterte does not have any problem with the release of political prisoners, majority of whom were detained under (President) Aquino,” he added.

Talks between the government and the NDFP were stalled after the two parties failed to reach a deal on jailed rebel leaders.

The NDFP had demanded the release of rebels charged with criminal offenses, saying they are working as peace consultants and should therefore be immune from arrest.

The NDFP insisted that the releasing of peace consultants is consistent with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) signed by peace negotiators in 1995.

Government negotiators, however, refused to yield to the demand, saying there is no way to validate the identities of the rebels especially those using aliases.

Earlier, Sison, who has been on self-exile in The Netherlands since 1987, said the prospect of the peace talks with the government “seem to be bright” under the Duterte administration.

He also said he is ready to end his decades-long exile if Duterte, his former student, visits him.

On Monday, Dutere said he is ready to give at least four Cabinet posts to the CPP namely the Labor, Agrarian Reform, Environment, and Social Welfare departments.

Panelo said the appointees for the four agencies would not necessarily be CPP members.

“Anybody who shares the ideas of the left is welcome,” he said.

Panelo, however, stressed that Duterte is against violent means of pursuing progressive ideals.

He believes the military would not react negatively to Duterte’s decision to appoint communists in the government.

“They trust Mayor Duterte. They believe in him. In fact, he has received the trust of both the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the military. They will follow the commander-in- chief,” Panelo said.

Panelo also welcomed reports that Duterte is planning to grant general amnesty to communist rebels.

“The communist rebels are not criminals. They fight for ideologies. The struggle is now an intellectual one. We have to give them a chance to start new lives. They need a new set up for a new order.