“The National Democratic Front (NDFP) is willing to hold informal talks or consultations without precondition.”

This was the message of Luis Jalandoni, chairperson of the negotiating panel of the NDFP, in a gathering of around 500 individuals from the church, academe, students and different people’s organizations last Monday.

The gathering also launched a campaign dubbed “Kapayapaan”, participated in by more than 50 conveners, including bishops from different religious faiths.

The campaign aims to generate support for the resumption of peace talks between the NDFP and the Government of the Philippines (GPH).  Talks between the two parties have been stalled since 2011, while arrests and the continued detention of political consultants of the NDFP further impeded the peace negotiations.

“We challenge both the GPH and the NDFP panels to muster the political will to resolve the current impediments to the continuation of the talks.” said Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, one of the conveners of Kapayapaan campaign.

The particiants stressed that civil war in the country has been going on for decades, and that armed revolution waged by NDFP is rooted in poverty, landlessness, joblessness and lack of social justice.

“So if we want just peace, these problems must be addressed by the peace talks between the GPH and the NDFP,” the group said.

In response, Jalandoni said that the NDFP’s willingness to sit down with the GPH’s peace panel should be on the basis of all bilateral peace agreements.  “Such informal talks or consultations should aim for the resumption of formal talks in the succeeding month or months,” Jalandoni said.

Jalandoni added that as soon as the negotiation resumes, the second substantive agenda should be tackled which are the social and economic reforms as stipulated in The Hague Joint Declaration.

“These indeed constitute the meat of the roots of the armed conflict,” Jalandoni said.

Some photos of the event: