Interview with Prof. Jose Maria Sison, NDFP Chief Political Consultant

By Joyce Panares
MANILA STANDARD
18 October  2010

Joyce Panares: PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has appointed human rights lawyer Alexander Padilla as the government’s chief negotiator for the peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front, a Malacañang source said Monday.

May ilang questions po sana ako sir for an article I am doing. Una, kung katanggap tanggap si Alex Padilla as government chief negotiator. May mga conditions po ba ang NDF for the resumption of the peace talks? Saka ano ang mga challenges na dapat unahin ma-address kung magreresume ang peace talks.

Maraming salamat po.

JMS: Hi Joyce! I think that Alex Padilla is a good choice of PNoy as GRP chief negotiator. Alex is known to understand the root causes of the armed conflict and the need for reasonable negotiations to arrive at mutually satisfactory agreements. He is known as a fair and reasonable person to talk to.

The NDFP makes no preconditions for the resumption of formal talks. Both the GRP and the NDFP are equally obliged to comply with the previous agreements, starting with the framework agreement, The Hague Joint Declaration.

The GRP and NDFP negotiating panels are expected to push the work of the Reciprocal Working Committees on Social and Economic Reforms, to let the Joint Monitoring Committee under the CARHRIHL deal with the complaints regarding human rights violations and to agree immediately on measures of goodwill and confidence building in order to improve the atmosphere for peace negotiations.