Joma Sison: Fighting to continue during review of peace agreements

MANILA, Philippines — Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison yesterday warned fighting would continue in the next three months while the government is reviewing all agreements related to the peace negotiations with the rebels.

In a statement, Sison said the National Democratic Front (NDF), the umbrella organization representing the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas, maintained its position to hold the formal talks in a neutral foreign venue, such as Oslo, Norway.

Sison said this was the agreement – to hold the talks in a neutral venue – but the government “is inconsistent and self-contradictory.”

“It seems to wish that the gains and agreements made in the backchannel talks be preserved but it has informed the NDF that (President) Duterte will review everything (process and agreements) since decades ago in three months,” Sison said.

Sison said there is the possibility that Duterte would come up with more demands which would be unacceptable “or he would outrightly continue his unrevoked termination of the peace negotiations.”

“In fact, in the next three months, his military, police and paramilitary forces will intensify their offensives and of course the revolutionary forces have to defend themselves and launch their own offensives,” Sison warned.

Sison pointed out there is no ceasefire prevailing in the next three months during the review.

“Because Duterte wants to launch his military offensives first and find out the results,” he added.

For his part, NDF peace panel chairman Fidel Agcaoili said he does not see the need for Duterte to conduct a review for three months of decades-old agreements signed by the government and the rebel group.

Among them is the holding of the peace talks abroad as provided for in the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee (JASIG).

“We have to stand by the agreements, the JASIG. The decision to bring the talks abroad. Hold the talks abroad as provided for in the JASIG. It was not a decision that was just out of nowhere,” Agcaoili said.

“Holding the peace talks abroad is not just a matter of caprices. If you will look at the experience of other countries faced with the same problems that we have right now, they are also holding talks abroad like the Palestine, Oslo, Colombia, Cuba. It’s not that we are demagogue. We are all Filipinos, let’s talk here…the President has to abide by the agreements,” Agcaoili said. – With  Artemio Dumlao, Miriam Desacada