COMMUNIST CHIEF JALANDONI IN MANILA FOR PEACE TALKS
[PHOTO - National Democratic Front chairman Luis Jalandoni and his wife Ma. Consuelo Ledesma arrive at the NAIA yesterday. RUDY SANTOS]
MANILA, DECEMBER 5, 2010 (STAR) By Rudy Santos and Jaime Laude -
- National Democratic Front chairman Luis Jalandoni and his wife Ma. Consuelo Ledesma arrived yesterday from the Netherlands for a two-week private visit.
Jalandoni's arrival came a day after the Aquino administration and the communist leadership agreed to a 19-day Christmas ceasefire, and as the two parties were setting the stage for formal peace talks in Oslo, Norway tentatively set on Feb. 19-25.
The couple arrived on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong.
"This is a family visit. I'm so happy to be back here with family, friends and kasama (comrades) and we are glad that we had a fruitful, meaningful and cordial meeting with Mr. Alex Padilla and attorney Pablito Sanidad in Hong Kong," Jalandoni told mediamen at the immigration area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 shortly after his arrival.
Padilla is the government's newly appointed lead peace negotiator. He and Sanidad are human rights lawyers.
Welcoming the Jalandoni couple were lawyers Edre Olalia and Rachel Pastores and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Director Carla Munsayac Villarta.
Jalandoni and NDF chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison, who is also the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, have been on self-exile in Utrecht, Netherlands for years.
"The formal peace talks are tentatively set for the third week of February with a preliminary peace talk in the third week of January and we are glad that both sides are recommending highly to the respective national leadership a Christmas holiday ceasefire – concurrent unilateral, and reciprocal from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3, 2011," Jalandoni said.
The preliminary talks are slated tentatively on Jan. 14 to 18 also in Oslo.
"We are still checking with the Norwegian government, the third party facilitator, through ambassador Ture Lundh of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry," he said referring to the January and February schedules.
Jalandoni said the Aquino administration had assured them of safe passage through the joint agreement on safety and immunity guarantees or Jasig in an effort to "improve the atmosphere" ahead of the peace talks.
Padilla himself handed Jalandoni a copy of the order lifting the hold departure order dated June 29, 1992 on the NDF leader, during their meeting in Hong Kong.
Padilla, he said, had also assured him that the lifting of the suspension of Jasig on July 17, 2009 is still in effect.
"We are looking forward to work with them (peace negotiators) and the rest of the panel for a meaningful, serious peace negotiation to address the root of the arm conflict and take up issues like land reform and national industrialization as we would like that release of Morong 43 will happen very soon and improve the atmosphere for the peace talk," he said. The Morong 43 refers to the group of 43 militant health workers arrested in the closing weeks of the Arroyo administration in Morong, Rizal for an alleged plot to sow terror.
Jalandoni also appealed for the release from detention of other NDF members, including a 65-year consultant, "so peace can resume in February and move forward."
"We also hope for the release of other political prisoners numbering almost four hundred," he said.
He also belied purported military intelligence information that New People's Army spokesman Gregorio Rosal or Ka Roger is dead.
"As far as we know, he is alive. From what we know, his health is okay and he's still active but staying out of media attention for security reasons," Jalandoni said.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) declined to comment on Jalandoni's return but gave assurance that the military would respect the Jasig.
"We're leaving this matter to the Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process. But rest assured that we will respect the Jasig," AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said.
Palace expects Reds to talk in good faith By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated December 05, 2010 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is expecting the communist rebels to negotiate peace in good faith without using the ceasefire period as an opportunity to strengthen their forces.
Apart from agreeing to a ceasefire, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government also showed good faith by lifting the hold departure and arrest orders against National Democratic Front (NDF) chairman Luis Jalandoni to allow him to negotiate freely in behalf of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA).
The government and the communist rebels have agreed to a 19-day ceasefire during the Christmas season to allow negotiations for the formal peace talks in February.
Government chief peace negotiator Alexander Padilla made the announcement on Friday, disclosing the agreement with Jalandoni to hold informal talks on the mechanisms to set the formal resumption of the peace talks tentatively set in Norway.
Both panels agreed to implement the ceasefire starting on Dec. 16 to Jan. 3, 2011, in which the two sides will meet to discuss the parameters of the formal peace talks in February.
"Having said that, we negotiate in good faith and it behooves upon all the parties that comes to the negotiating table to act in the same manner," Valte said.
Valte noted criticisms that the communist rebels would take advantage of the ceasefire to consolidate their forces and recruit more members.
Valte said the government is hoping that the CPP-NPA will comply with their end of the bargain.
"All we can say is that we hope that the ceasefire will not be used for any other means than for what it was agreed upon and for what it was implemented," she said.
Valte said the government would take the necessary precautions to uphold the purpose of the ceasefire.
She said the government would operate within the bounds of law even as the policy "from the very beginning is that we will negotiate in good faith."
Valte said the ceasefire agreement is a good development, which must not be exploited to allow the formal peace talks to finally resume.
Following the announcement of the truce, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Ricardo David declared the suspension of offensive military operations (SOMO) against the NPA during the ceasefire period.
David clarified the SOMO will not preclude the troops from acting in self-defense and protecting communities in the countryside from armed threats.
David stressed the SOMO is a gesture of good faith on the part of the military to allow the peace talks to continue and to finally end the decades old insurgency.
AFP Civil Relations Service spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said the SOMO would not include the Abu Sayyaf and other terror groups.
"Our SOMO only covers the NPAs," Mabanta said. "We want to show the Communist Party of the Philippines, NPA and National Democratic Front our sincerity. Ultimately we want a long-term ceasefire brought about by a peace agreement. For now we are happy we can take a rest and hopefully this ceasefire will start something great," Mabanta said.
Mabanta, however, stressed the troops are also under orders to defend themselves if attacked.
But insofar as the Abu Sayyaf is concerned, Mabanta said the military operations against the al-Qaeda linked terror group would be intensified during the holidays to prevent them from disrupting the holiday celebrations.
Even as both sides are preparing to settle down for the ceasefire, there had been reports of NPA rebels attacking several villages.
Officials of the Army's 5th Infantry Division said troops encountered some 15 suspected NPA guerrillas in Balagan village of Santo Niño town in Cagayan on Friday.
NPA rebels also attacked a motor pool owned by a Taiwanese businessman in Pateng village of Gonzaga town, also in Cagayan, burning down several vehicles and heavy equipment, also on Friday.
The CPP-NPA has been waging a protracted Maoist insurgency for nearly 40 years, one of the longest in Asia, which has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people despite several attempts at peace negotiations.
Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the suspension of the peace talks in 2005 after the communist rebels walked out of the negotiations in Norway, accusing the Philippine government of including the CPP and the NPA in the US and European lists of foreign terrorist organizations. -With Jaime Laude, Charlie Lagasca, Raymund Catindig
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