Closure pact with rebel group seen in April

BACOLOD CITY ,Philippines  – The government expects to sign a closure agreement with the Tabara-Paduano Group (TPG) of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa Pilipinas-Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB) in April.

Undersecretary Luisito Montalbo, of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), who was here last Thursday, told reporters that both parties have agreed on transforming the RPMP-RPA-ABB into “a political, economic and social organization engaged in development political work.”

Montalbo, who heads the government panel, said both parties also agreed on the objectives, principles, and components to be included in the draft agreement, during a three-day meeting that ended Thursday.

The meeting, held at Sugarland Hotel here, was attended by RPMP chief Veronica Tabara, RPA-ABB national commander Stephen Paduano, alias Carapali Lualhati, and other leaders of the rebel group.

Montalbo was joined by Col. Dickson Hermoso, of the Armed Forces’ Peace Process Office; Assistant Secretary Anselmo Abungan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources; and lawyer Joemer Aquino of the OPAPP’s Legal and Security Unit.

Montalbo said the TPG has 650 to 700 members, majority of whom – 476 – are in Negros Occidental and the rest in Negros Oriental, Panay, Mindanao, and Metro Manila. 

The RPMP-RPA-ABB, a breakaway group of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, signed a peace agreement with the government in December 2000 during the term of former President Joseph Estrada.

In 2007, the RPMP-RPA-ABB split into two factions. The other faction, the Nilo de la Cruz Group, is negotiating separately with the government panel led by National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary Joel Rocamora.