Philippine president Duterte ends ceasefire with Maoist rebels

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that he now considers the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPC) , New People's Army (NPA), and National Democratic Front (NDF) as terrorist groups rather than rebels.

The CPC , a Maoist communist party, was formed almost a half century ago in 1968. It is banned and its leader Jose Sison lives in exile in the Netherlands. It has its own website on which it announced the cessation of its unilateral ceasefire:

The August 28, 2016 unilateral declaration of interim ceasefire issued by the Central Committee of the CPP (CPP-CC) and the National Operations Command of the New People’s Army (NPA-NOC) is hereby terminated. The Negotiating Panel of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) shall be given notice today of this termination by the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front (NDFP).With this declaration and notice, the August 28 unilateral ceasefire shall effectively expire on 11:59 p.m. of February 10.

The New People's Army(NPA) is the armed wing of the CPP and has been carrying out an armed struggle against the government for going on half a century now. It controls territory in some rural areas mostly in the main northern island of Luzon but also a few areas in the large southern island of Mindanao. The CPP also has a number of legal political front organizations with the NDF being their umbrella organization. On their website, the group claimed to be waiting for formal notice from the government of termination of peace negotiations. The group noted that all 17 NDFP consultants who had been released from jail were back in the Philippines and not in hiding as apparently some reports said.

Last summer there had been meetings between the government and rebels sponsored by Norway that had been a major breakthrough with both sides declaring a ceasefire. Al Jazeera reported:The Philippine government and Maoist rebels have signed an indefinite ceasefire deal to facilitate peace talks aimed at ending one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies. "This is a historic and unprecedented event ... [but] there is still a lot of work to be done ahead," President Rodrigo Duterte's peace adviser Jesus Dureza said at Friday's signing ceremony in Norway, which is mediating the talks.

Duterte had shown some sympathy to the rebel cause and had made it a priority to negotiate a peace deal with them that would stop the long costly struggle with the group. In turn, the Maoists threw their support behind Duterte's drug war: "The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in a statement on Saturday that it had authorized its in-house militia, the New People's Army (NPA), to "disarm and arrest" drug lords, local news site GMA News reports."

Now this has cooperation is all ended and it is back to constant low level warfare it would seem. After he announced he was suspending peace talks. Duterte said: "From now on I will consider the CPP-NPA-NDF a terrorist group." He told the negotiators he had released to attend peace talks to return home and go back to prison. They are apparently already back in the Philippines but it appears they are not back in prison as yet. They are out on bail and feel they should not be arrested at least until the term of the bail runs out. Duterte also announced the end of the government's unilateral ceasefire.

The breakdown in the talks is the result of a number of clashes in recent weeks. The leadership of the rebels is not always able to control the actions of every local commander. Government commanders as well have varying attitudes to the struggle some no doubt not favoring a ceasefire. Recently three soldiers were killed in an ambush near Cagayan de Oro on the southern island of Mindanao. President Duterte was visiting the area to attend their funeral. Duterte awarded the three soldiers medals and provided financial support for their families. Duterte also said that the Geneva Convention did not apply to the NPA since they are criminals. Wikipedia reports that from the inception of the rebellion in 1969 until 2008 there were more than 43,000 insurgency related deaths.

Philippine Government and Maoist rebels reach ceasefire agreement

The Philippine government and communist rebels of the New Peoples' Army (NPA) have agreed to an indefinite ceasefire at peace talks in Oslo hosted by Norway.

The conflict between the government and the Maoist NPA has lasted almost half a century and at least 40,000 people have been killed. Wikipedia describes the NPA as follows:

 The New People's Army (NPA) (Filipino: Bagong Hukbong Bayan) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It was formed and founded by Bernabe Buscayno A.K.A. "Commander Dante" on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of protracted "people's war"... The Philippine Army estimated the NPA's strength at 60,000 fighters at the end of 2015.The NPA is in rural areas in many parts of the Philippines.

The government of President Rodrigo Duterte hopes a peace agreement can be reached within a year of the talks. Duterte had promised as part of his successful presidential campaign to try reach a peace agreement with the NPA. This is the first formal meeting between the two sides in five years. There have been peace talks for about thirty years now.

The Norwegian foreign minister Boerge Brende, who hosted the ceremony announcing the ceasefire said he hoped that the two sides could forge an agreement similar to that between Colombia and the Marxist FARC rebels that has also been ongoing for over half a century. Norway has been instrumental in trying forge peace deals in Colombia and the Philippines.

The Philippine government has reaffirmed its commitment to an open-ended ceasefire that started on August 21 as the NPA agreed to match it. The exiled founder of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, Jose Sison, who lives in the Netherlands said: "There is a clear plan to accelerate the peace negotiations". The rebels are demanding radical reforms such as the redistribution of land to poor farmers, and the nationalization of industries. The National Democratic Front (NDF) the political wing of the Philippine Communist Party has agreed to meet in Oslo again on October 8.

President Duterte had released a number of jailed NPA commanders on bail to attend the talks. Both sides urged the president to grant an amnesty to all insurgents. At present, there are about 530 guerrillas in Philippine jails. The Philippine Congress would also need to approve the amnesty. Duterte has campaigned to end the clashes not just with the communist NPA but also with the main Muslim militant groups. He says that the long conflicts have hampered Philippine economic development. Reuters sets the number of NPA fighters at just 3,000 much lower than the Philippine Army figure. At its peak in the 1980's the NPA was thought to have had around 30,000 fighters. Al Jazeera gives a present figure of just around 4,000

Jesus Dureza spokesperson for President Duterte said: "This is a historic and unprecedented event ... [but] there is still a lot of work to be done ahead." An agreement to indefinite ceasefires has never been reached before. The two sides also agreed that they would speed up the peace process by coming to substantial agreement on economic and social reforms within six months according to a statement by the Norwegian foreign ministry. This agreement would be followed by agreement on political and constitutional reforms and then a final agreement to end armed conflict would be signed.

President Duterte hailed the progress in Norway saying: "We are in a better position [to talk peace] now. There is a window. We are not fighting the Communists. They have declared a truce. In return, I also ordered a ceasefire." An agreement was renewed that allows immunity for members of the National Democratic Front (NDF) so that they can participate in negotiations without fear of arrest. In 2002 the US listed both the NPA and Communist Party of the Philippines as terrorist organizations. However they are no longer listed as such in the Philippines making negotiations less difficult.

Although a supporter and admirer of dictator Ferdinand Marcos who was staunchly anti-communist, Duterte has had relatively positive relations with the NPA. He has at times described himself as a socialist. He has even sketched out the possibility of a coalition government with the rebels. He was a university student of Jose Sison now 77, who founded the Communist Party of the Philippines. The communists have supported Duterte in his controversial campaign against drug dealers and users. Duterte wants peace with both communist and Muslim rebels as a way to help end poverty in the Philippines and foster economic development.

Philippines: Gloria's claim of economic growth a pack of lies: NDF

The National Democratic Front is a front for the Communist Party of the Philippines. Jose_Maria_Sison is the leader of the party and resides in exile in the Netherlands. He has been in and out of jail on murder charges! However, this does not mean some of his criticisms are not sound. As one can see Gloria's representatives are long on rhetoric and short on substance although the Daily Tribune from which this is taken is not exactly a cheerleader for Arroyo!

Gloria’s claim of economic growth a pack of lies — NDF



12/31/2007

The National Democratic Front (NDF) yesterday accused President Arroyo of lying to the Filipino people about her alleged role in stirring the country into joining the ranks of developed economies.

According to Prof. Jose Maria Sison, NDF chief political consultant, Mrs. Arroyo has been working against national industrialization and genuine land reform.

“Gloria Arroyo, the fake president, keeps on babbling that her regime is propelling the Philippines to become a ‘First World country.’ She is obviously lying,” Sison said in message sent to the Tribune.

He added the Arroyo govern-ment has misrepresented as “development” the “consump-tion-led and debt-ridden” growth of the Philippine economy.

“It has used domestic and foreign borrowing to finance and abet the growing trade and budgetary deficits and to conjure the false illusion of economic growth. It wastes public funds through overpriced

and graft-ridden infrastructure projects and the purely parasitic expenditures of the military and bureaucracy,” Sison pointed out.

He said the Philippine economy has remained dependent on the production of agricultural and mineral raw materials, which are being exported at greater volume but at lower prices, adding agriculture has become lopsided as production of staple food is neglected and food products are dumped on the Philippines from abroad under the policy of trade liberalization.

Sison pointed out the lack of employment opportunities in the country has forced more than 10 percent of the population to work abroad at great social cost to the country.

He stressed the claim of the Arroyo government that the peso has been gaining strength against the US dollar was a result of the “undervaluing of the foreign exchange earnings of overseas Filipino workers by increasing foreign debt through program and project loans and the sale of bonds in the commercial market, and by attracting portfolio investments, structured dollar loans and the Japanese yen in the carry trade.”

Sison in painting a bleak picture of the Philippine economy in 2008, said the underdevelopment and chronic crisis of the Philippine economy will make it extremely vulnerable to the current financial crisis and recessionary trend being generated globally by the United States.

“The Filipino people will undergo unprecedented economic and social suffering in terms of rising unemployment, decreasing real income, soaring prices of basic goods and deteriorating social services,” He said.

Sison added the US and the global demand for both Philippine raw-material exports and semi-manufactured reexports will contract because of the continuing industrial decline, reduced employment and recessionary trend in all developed countries.

“US economic growth is expected to go down to less than two percent from the usual level of around three percent. The 30 OECD countries are expected to have an average growth rate of less than 3 percent from the usual level of more than 5 percent,” he said.

Sison also predicted that in 2008, the underdeveloped Philippine economy will be facing serious problems in relation to the export of raw materials and the reexport of low value-added semi-manufactures in the shrinking global market as well as in relation to the securing of new loans and selling of bonds to service the accumulated debt and finance of the importation of oil and other critically=needed goods.

Meanwhile, after getting into a series of controversies this year, Malacanang yesterday expressed hope that positive things will pour on 2008.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said this New Year’s wish is not only for the welfare of the Arroyo administration but for the whole Filipino nation as well.

He also expressed belief that the year 2008 will be luckier, saying the number 8 represents never-ending or perpetual progress.

“Remember, eight connotes perpetual motion. Never ending, perpetual progress. Let’s think positive, may we all be good and better come the year 2008,” Ermita said.

For his part, Chief Presidential Legal Adviser Sergio Apostol predicted that Mrs. Arroyo will continue to be immune to any impeachment complaint in the coming year, saying all the negative issues hurled against her have already been resolved or have died natural deaths.

Over the weekend, Apostol said the “worst is over” for Mrs. Arroyo as the government has neutralized the threat posed by the camp of opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV who staged the Nov. 29 Manila Peninsula siege.

“We are very very confident that the President will never be impeached on 2008. We have the numbers in Congress and she is not doing anything wrong,” Apostol said.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, for his part, said his New Year’s wish is for everyone to contribute to nation-building and understand that progress will not be easily achieved.

“I wish that every Filipino does his or her share in nation-building. Change will not come in one fell swoop. It will be built on a daily basis with the sacrifices and unselfish acts of each one of us. Even simple act of self-discipline go a long way,” Bunye said. Gerry Baldo and Sherwin C. Olaes