Palace: Duterte to review all past agreements with Reds

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will personally review agreements signed by his predecessors and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to determine which are binding on his administration, Malacañang said on Thursday.  

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said all talks with the communists were put on hold until the review is completed. 

"The president will review the agreements because there are many acronyms used like JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees) and CAHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law). He said: 'I am overwhelmed by them. What are they?' So he will look into them one by one and see which ones are binding on the government itself and whether they are binding only on specific administrations," Roque said in a press briefing.

Agreements, even those signed by presidents, are generally signed on behalf of a government. President Fidel V. Ramos, for example, signed the The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, which lays down guidelines on the peace negotiations as an "emissary of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines."  

Roque said: "All the negotiations are on hold until the president reviews (the agreements) and the president has said... I’m revealing for the first time that he will personally review all this agreements entered into by all his predecessors."

Duterte has deferred to a later date the formal talks slated for June 28, saying he needs to study the existing agreements between the government and the communists. 

Communists suspect the rescheduling of talks was made to allow government forces to launch attacks against the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the communist movement. The military has denied the allegation. 

Roque noted that the previous administrations have different approaches to the peace talks with communists.  

"That's the difficulty in negotiating with non-state actors. If you sign a treaty, it is binding on any government because it was entered into by the state. If an agreement is between the state and non-state actors, we know that different administrations have their own thrusts when it comes to the conduct of the peace talks," the presidential spokesman said.  

"That is what the president wants to clarify," he added.  

Roque said among the agreements to be reviewed is the JASIG, which prohibits the arrest and detention of peace consultants of the NDFP.

The president has asked Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison to return to the Philippines to join the peace talks but the rebel leader refused, saying the negotiations should be done in a neutral territory. 

Asked whether Duterte's offer to Sison still stands, Roque replied: "Well, he does not want to come home. So it was an offer rejected already by Joma Sison for now. I think that’s my  understanding."

Roque said the president remains committed to the peace talks despite the three-month suspension of the back-channel talks. 

"Well, the fact that the president has repeatedly said that he wants to continue with the peace talks is always positive. Do not forget that Guinness Book of World 
record has already described our fight with the CPP-NDF as a longest-running insurgency in the world. So any willingness on the part of the president to talk peace is always positive," he added. 

Pressed on whether the government is expecting the resumption of the peace talks after three months, Roque said: "Let's see what will happen because there is a review. It will depend on the results of the review. And it can even be earlier if the review process is fast." 

Philippine communist rebels have been waging an armed struggle against the government for nearly five decades, making it the longest-running Maoist rebellion in Asia. — Alexis Romero with a report from Job Manahan