Next on the Agenda of the GPH-NDFP Peace Talks: Socio-economic Reforms

Next on the Agenda of the GPH-NDFP Peace Talks: Socio-economic Reforms

 Speaking before members of people’s organizations, Randall Echanis, a member of the NDFP’s Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms (RCW-SER) said the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-economic Reforms is the meat of the peace negotiations as it aims to address the roots of the armed conflict.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — During these times when the country is reeling from a global economic crisis, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said, a Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (Caser) could never be more opportune.

The item on socio-economic reforms is the second in the substantive agenda in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the NDFP. The first agenda item was the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL),which was signed in August 1998.

After the initial round of peace talks last February, both panels agreed to start discussing Caser by June this year and to sign the agreement by August.

Speaking before members of people’s organizations, Randall Echanis, a member of the NDFP’s Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms (RCW-SER) said the Caser is the meat of the peace negotiations as it aims to address the roots of the armed conflict.

Echanis said the NDFP and the GPH, which was formerly called as the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), exchanged drafts on Caser on March 16, 1998. Discussions, however, did not start at once.

Echanis recalled that bilateral talks on Caser took place in February and April of 2004. “The NDFP draft became the de facto working draft. The talks did not advance though. We only finished discussing the Preamble and the Declaration of Principles,” Echanis related.

Echanis said the two panels have different frameworks, citing as an example the refusal of the GPH panel members to use the phrase “national industrialization” in the Declaration of Principles.

Talks were stalled until the resumption of formal talks this February. After six years of impasse, the Caser is once again on the table.

On the NDFP side, Juliet de Lima serves as the RWC-SER chairwoman. Besides Echanis, Rafael Baylosis is the other member of the RWC-SER. Meanwhile, the GPH’s RWC-SER is chaired by Ednar Dayanghirang. He is joined by Fr. Bert Alejo and Prof. Fernando Aldana.

During the first round of formal talks, both panels identified the initial topics to be discussed in Caser. Echanis said the NDFP proposed agrarian reform and nationalist industrialization. The GPH later on agreed, citing assets reform and industrial policies as counterparts to the NDFP’s proposal. Both panels said they would revise their respective original drafts, which were submitted in 1998..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/03/25/next-on-the-agenda-of-the-gph-ndfp-peace-talks-socio-economic-reforms/