PHILIPPINES
The Manila Times-Apr 2
It is striking that the spearhead of House Resolution No. 1803 – which calls for government resumption of peace talks with the communist group in the country – are lawmakers who identify themselves with the militant Left or its causes. Sixty-one House representatives are urging President Rodrigo Duterte’s government to resume the negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the new Peoples Army (CPP-NPA).
The sympathizers and supporters of the CPP-NPA are the ones most anxious to get the negotiations going again. This means it is the communists who are pressing for the peace talks and are prepared to seriously consider steps toward ending insurgency and strife in the country.
Political scientist Fred C. Iklé, author of the book “How Nations Negotiate” ( New York, 1964), writes that for negotiations to take place and succeed, there should fundamentally be a shared basis of interest. “Two elements must normally be present for negotiation to take place: there must be both common interests and issues of conflict. Without common interests there is nothing to negotiate for; without conflict there is nothing to negotiate about.”
We take this to mean the shared interest of both sides in an agreement and settlement. The protracted CPP-NPA-government peace talks, which have now stretched over three decades without reaching a settlement, have failed because the communist side has not accepted the complete end of the communist insurgency as the common objective to aim for, which is the central position of the Philippine government.
Four rounds of talks have had to subsist on a vague desire for lasting peace, instead of a genuine belief in achieving a settlement.
The opportunity for a settlement, which was high on President Duterte’s agenda upon his accession to the presidency, was frittered away, because the Communists turned it into an occasion to make unrealistic demands and unacceptable concessions from the government.
The CPP used the negotiations to consolidate its forces and publicize itself by demanding, among other things, the release of all its detained members, even those with pending murder cases against them.
The negotiations could not go on when the CPP’s armed groups continued carrying out sneaky attacks on state forces.
The situation came to a head on Nov. 23, 2017 when President Duterte issued Proclamation 360 to terminate the peace talks. On Dec. 5, he followed this up with Proclamation 374, declaring the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization.
The CPP could only respond that it would “resist and fight” the Duterte administration. CPP leader Jose Maria Sison for his part sought to induce Duterte into “returning to the negotiating table.”
The CPP also issued a statement saying the “Filipino people are confronted with the Duterte regime’s fascist tyranny, all-out war and headlong push toward a fascist dictatorship under the guise of a fake federal setup.”
In light of this complete disagreement, the House resolution looks to us like a ploy to buy time for the CPP-NPA, because the rebels have been suffering lately a spate of defeats on the field and a rush of surrenderees from the ranks of NPA forces. They have been dumbfounded by the government’s resolve to put an end to all the CPP-NPA’s revolutionary taxes being exacted from businesses and communities.
The House resolution could only talk of public sentiment for the peace process to be resumed and the warning that the unprecedented progress achieved under the Duterte administration would be wasted if the talks were permanently scrapped.
There is good sense in the position taken by the Palace regarding the resumption of peace talks:
It said: “There must be an enabling environment for the desired resumption of peace talks such as genuine sincerity on the part of the CPP-NPA-NDF. They must cease their hostilities against innocent civilians and government forces; end their extortion activities, violent streaks and wanton killings; lay down their arms and return to the fold of law and restart to live normal lives.”
In short, for the peace negotiations to resume, the discussions must focus on finding a complete end to the Communist insurgency in the Philippines. The CPP-NPA must at last take an interest in this.
(First published in The Manila Times – http://www.manilatimes.net/peace-talks-must-focus-on-ending-insurgency/390030/)
