MANILA, Philippines – The recent arrest of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants could spoil the peace negotiations between the government and communist rebels, a coalition of peace advocates in the country warned.
“We are worried, in particular, of the recent arrests of Wigberto Villarico, Porfirio Tuna, and Simeon Naogsan. All three, as announced by the NDFP, are peace consultants protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). Such arrests have a chilling effect on the peace process and erodes the trust that is so necessary to move forward to fulfill the promise made with on what the Oslo statement promised,” the Council of Leaders for Peace Initiatives (CLPI) said in a statement.
The coalition said that Villarico, Tuna, and Naogsan’s arrest would not only detail the negotiation’s progress, but also “result in the abandonment of the process.”
November 23 will mark the first year of the signing of the Oslo Joint Statement, where the Philippine government and the NDFP agreed to resolve the decades-long armed conflict in the country and restart peace negotiations that were terminated during the Rodrigo Duterte administration.
“It is clear that there are elements in the Marcos Jr. administration that are working to block any progress towards a permanent peace agreement between the government and the NDFP,” the coalition said.
“The hawks and hardliners espousing an all-out war approach to the armed conflict in contravention to the pronouncements of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the President himself must be exposed and condemned,” they added.
In a statement on October 28, NDFP peace panel chairperson Julie de Lima condemned the arrest of their three consultants.
“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,” De Lima said.
Spate of arrests
Villarico, along with companion Marjorie Lizada, was nabbed by a joint military and police team in Quezon City on October 24. Villarico has a warrant of arrest for alleged kidnapping and murder but human rights group Karapatan refuted the police’s allegations against him.
Karapatan cited the military’s claim that among Villarico’s aliases is “Benjamin Mendoza.” The rights group said the military already arrested a security guard in 2012 whom they claimed was “Benjamin Mendoza,” who had with a P5.6-million bounty on his head. Karapatan said the security guard named Rolly Panesa was tortured and detained, but later the courts ruled that he was not Benjamin Mendoza.
“Villarico’s family is also gravely concerned over his health and welfare, considering his age and medical condition. At 68, he suffers from spondylitis, hypertension, heart arrhythmia, asthma, diabetes and prostate enlargement, among others,” Karapatan said.
Earlier in October, Tuna was arrested in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. Naogsan, who serves as spokesperson of the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front, was arrested in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte, on October 21.
Why this matters
In late November 2023, the Philippine government and the NDFP announced that they had signed an agreement to renew the peace negotiations. The agreement was the product of a series of informal discussions held in Norway and the Netherlands, with the involvement of the emissaries of the Philippine government and the NDFP, through the help of Norway.
De Lima cited four key concerns that need to be discussed that, she said, would “help advance the peace negotiations.” They are the following:
- Participation of detained NDFP consultants in the peace negotiations. De Lima said they will work on their release to allow them to contribute to the talks.
- Assurance of safety and immunity of those involved in the negotiations.
- “General, unconditional, and omnibus” release of all political prisoners.
- Abrogation of the terror designation of the NDFP, including its panel members, consultants, and all those who work for the peace talks.
Peace negotiations provide a platform to discuss the demands of groups and solve key problems such as poverty and injustice. Through these talks, groups are given the avenue to explain the root cause of conflict and why it is important to address them. The main goal of these negotiations is to achieve peace, but no Philippine president has been successful, so far, in addressing the communist rebellion.
Duterte resumed peace negotiations with communist groups, but later terminated the talks and claimed the communists “failed to show…sincerity and commitment in pursuing genuine and meaningful peace negotiations as [they] engaged in acts of violence and hostilities.” Duterte later launched a crackdown on progressives, which led to the deaths and arrests of some activists, like what happened to progressives during the “Blood Sunday” operations in March 2021.
Following the arrest and deaths of NDF consultants, peace negotiations could be on the brink of collapse, as what the coalition and De Lima had mentioned.
The arrests of peace consultants, as well as the deaths NDFP consultants Concha Araneta and Ariel Arbitrario, are prohibited under the JASIG and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law signed by the government and the NDFP, according to Karapatan. The JASIG is an important agreement that guarantees the immunity and safety of individuals involved in the peace talks.
National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya claimed that JASIG is no longer in effect, but De Lima refuted this, saying that the agreement remained intact.
“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,” De Lima explained. – Rappler.com