Philippines: Arrest of 3 NDFP consultants a deliberate move by the GRP to create hostile conditions for peace talks

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Julie de Lima, Chairperson, Negotiating Panel, of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel strongly condemns the recent illegal arrests of NDFP consultants Simeon Naogsan, Porferio Tuna, and Wigberto Villarico. The arbitrary detention of these consultants is yet another in a string of blatant violations by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), signed to provide both parties to the negotiations the conducive conditions to engage without the threat of arrest, killing or harassment.

The NDFP Negotiating Panel firmly rejects NSC Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya’s insinuation that JASIG is no longer in effect. The effectivity of these agreements cannot be simply rescinded through a mere press conference or media statement. Such agreements are the product of formal negotiations and mutual commitment, rooted in both national and international legal principles, and cannot be undone unilaterally or casually. The termination of an agreement like JASIG requires formal procedures as stipulated in the document signed by both parties in 1995.

The NDFP Negotiating Panel likewise refutes Malaya’s claim that Villarico is not an NDFP consultant. In fact, Wigberto Villarico is an NDFP consultant, regularly engaged by the NDFP Negotiating Panel as a key representative from the Southern Tagalog region. His role is crucial in representing concerns of farmers and workers in the region and in advancing the substantive items in the negotiations including in the process of drafting the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER).

The repeated arrests, torture, and killings of NDFP consultants under Marcos Jr. in the past years, despite their protected status under JASIG, represent a deliberate act of bad faith by the GRP. The GRP’s actions undermine the peace process and violates the basic principles of mutual respect and accountability. These consultants have dedicated their lives to representing the Filipino people’s interests and are integral in the resumption of peace negotiations. Their unlawful arrests serve only to foster growing distrust and heightened tensions at a time when space for dialogue is critical.

JASIG explicitly guarantees safety and immunity for both GRP and NDFP consultants, resource persons, and staff involved in the peace negotiations, protecting them from arrest and persecution. By repeatedly violating these protections, the GRP has disregarded its own commitments and continues to push the ongoing talks to the brink of collapse. It is unacceptable that while the GRP claims to pursue peace, it simultaneously targets and imprisons those working to achieve it.

The GRP is deliberately creating hostile conditions to obstruct the peace negotiations. With consultants and negotiators of the NDFP repeatedly subjected to arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, and torture, the GRP has made a mockery of its own supposed commitment to peace. These grave human rights violations demonstrate not only a disregard for JASIG and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), but also a complete lack of respect for the lives and freedoms of those working for a just resolution to the armed conflict.

We wish to reiterate the NDFP’s policy of openness to resume peace negotiations, but how can we possibly engage in meaningful negotiations when our negotiators and consultants are subjected to arrests, killings, and torture? This issue is both a practical and political obstacle to the ongoing talks, as it threatens not only the safety of the NDFP consultants, negotiators and staff but also undermines the very foundation of trust and dialogue necessary for any productive peace negotiation to continue.

#International #Philippines #NDFP