A gathering calling for the release of detained peace consultants and the resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace talks on November 24, Saturday.
18 November 2018
Dear Friends,
Greetings of peace!
The recent arrests of NDFP peace consultants have further derailed the possibility of resuming the peace talks that were unilaterally terminated by President Rodrigo Duterte on 23 November 2017 through Proclamation 360.
Five of those arrested, along with several of their companions, remain detained based on trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. There has been a disturbing pattern wherein arresting officers plant evidence to justify their illegal arrest and indefinite detention. The five peace consultants are Ferdinand Castillo, Rommel Salinas, Rafael Baylosis, Adelberto Silva and most recently, Vicente Ladlad. Two more, Eduardo Sarmiento and Leopoldo Caluza, have already been convicted and face life sentences at Muntinlupa.
We believe these arrests signify the ascendancy of the militarists and warmongers in the Duterte administration. The dominant policy is to use military might to crush the communist insurgency, employing politically repressive measures to quell dissent and all opposition. Meanwhile mass murder in the “war on drugs”, a creeping dictatorship, militarization of the civilian bureaucracy, and the threat of imposing nationwide martial law and/or a so-called “revolutionary government” continue. There are also moves to proscribe the CPP-NPA as “terrorist organizations” through Proclamation 374.
The road to a just peace via peace negotiations that address the root causes of armed conflict have apparently been all but abandoned. Ironically, this comes at a time when the GPH and NDFP peace panels had made significant strides on a draft Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER), considered by many as the most substantive agenda of the peace negotiations. A draft agreement on a coordinated unilateral ceasefires that would lead to a more permanent bilateral ceasefire agreement, and a General Amnesty Proclamation for Political Prisoners were also in the works.
We believe that the unprecedented gains thus far achieved in the peace negotiations are worth pursuing even as the unprecedented attacks on human and democratic rights under the Duterte regime must be resolutely resisted.
We thus invite you to “Clamor for Peace, Defend Human Rights: A gathering calling for the release of detained peace consultants, the resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace talks.”
The event will be held on a Saturday, 24 November, from 9 to 11:30 am at the 3rd floor of the Immaculate Conception Multipurpose Building, Lantana Street, near E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City.
Please join us in defending the rights of the peace consultants and in pushing for a just and lasting peace.
