“The joint declaration, which has been negotiated in Oslo, marks the resumption of formal negotiations between the new government in the Philippines and the (rebel) National Democratic Front of the Philippines”, Norway’s foreign ministry said Friday in a statement.
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It is a military style of eating, where diners go around a long table filled with food that is served on banana leaves.
The negotiating panels celebrated a week of talks, where both camps made headway in the process that is meant to end Asia’s longest running insurgency. “Vikings Filipino way”, she laughed.
“This ceasefire declaration is encouraged by the GRP’s facilitation of the release of almost all NDFP consultants who are set to participate in peace negotiations in the course of the next several months”, said the CPP and NPA. Norway has had a role as facilitator for the peace process since 2001.
“The joint statement we are signing manifests the historic significance of what we have achieved”, said Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Philippines Communist Party. He said the ceasefire agreement included a timetable for talks about political, economic and constitutional reforms.
However, as part of his election promise new President Rodrigo Duterte – who won the May 9 election – proposed to grant a general amnesty for the release of all political prisoners if party leaders returned from exile and sat down for negotiations.
“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.
He also offered the CPP posts in his new government to smooth the way.
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It estimates that the number of NPA members has dropped from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s to less than 4,000.
