{UAH} ilippines, Communists sign indefinite ceasefire

Philippines, Communists sign indefinite ceasefire
Pierre-Henry Deshayes•August 26, 2016
The Philippine government and Communist guerrillas on Friday 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 a signing ceremony in Norway, which is
mediating the talks.
Both sides agreed to implement unilateral, indefinite ceasefires --
something that has never been achieved before in the peace process.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende described the agreement as a
"major breakthrough".
"We are on the highway to peace and we are talking of a timeline of
maximum 12 months," Silvestre Bello, the Philippine government
delegation's head of negotiations, told AFP.
The two parties have been meeting in Oslo since Monday, wrapping up
their talks with the signing ceremony on Friday.
As a prelude to the negotiations, both sides had agreed to a
ceasefire, but the truce commitment by the Communist side was due to
end on Saturday.
The two parties also agreed to "speed up the peace process, and aim to
reach the first substantial agreement on economic and social reforms
within six months," a statement from the Norwegian foreign ministry
said.
"They plan to follow this up with an agreement on political and
constitutional reforms, before a final agreement on ending the armed
conflict can be signed."
The two delegations agreed to meet again in Oslo on October 8-12.
Philippine President Duterte himself hailed the progress made in Norway.
"We are in a better position (to talk peace) now. There is a window,"
he said, adding: "We are not fighting the Communists. They have
declared a truce. In return, I also ordered a ceasefire."
- 'Good atmosphere' -
The head of the rebel delegation, Luis Jalandoni, was optimistic about
the potential for achieving a lasting peace deal.
"We think that the peace talks now can move forward with a good
atmosphere and try to move on with the (negotiations on) social and
economic reforms, which are vital for addressing the roots of the
armed conflict," he told AFP.
The government and the rebels also renewed an agreement that ensures
immunity and security for key representatives of the rebels' political
wing, the National Democratic Front, so that they can take part in the
negotiations.
The Communist Party of the Philippines launched a rebellion in 1968
that has so far claimed the lives of 30,000 people, according to
official estimates.
Its armed faction, the New People's Army (NPA), is now believed to
have fewer than 4,000 gunmen, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s,
when a bloodless revolt ended the 20-year dictatorship of late
president Ferdinand Marcos.
They remain particularly active in rural areas, where they are
notorious for extorting money from local businesses. They also
regularly attack police and military forces, sometimes targeting them
in urban areas.
In 2002, the US State Department designated the Communist Party and
the NPA as terrorist organisations.
Forging peace with the rebels has been the elusive goal of Philippine
presidents since a 1986 revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand
Marcos.
The force behind the current talks is President Duterte, who took
office on June 30 after a landslide election victory.
- Hopes for peace deal -
On Monday, his government said it hoped to reach a peace accord within a year.
Duterte, who calls himself a Socialist, hails from Mindanao, the
impoverished southern third of the Philippines where two rebellions --
Communist and Muslim -- have been most active.
He says ending both insurgencies is vital to his plan to curb poverty.
He has even sketched the possibility of forming a coalition government
with the rebels.
Duterte reputedly has close links to the Communists and is a former
university student of Jose Maria Sison, now aged 77, who established
the party.
The two sides hope to breathe new life into the process by discussing
the outstanding issues of social and economic reforms, political and
constitutional changes, and an end to hostilities.
Previous peace talks have addressed one issue at a time.

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