New NDF peace negotiator renews call for release of political prisoners

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has called on President Rodrigo Duterte to release more than 400 political prisoners, adding that this would help accelerate peace negotiations.

"The NDFP stands firm in calling for the release through amnesty of the 432 political prisoners not only as a matter of justice but also in basic compliance of the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law)," said newly appointed NDF chief peace negotiator Fidel Agcaoili in a statement.

He added that Duterte had promised the release of all political prisoners through amnesty.

"Their release will undoubtedly serve as an incentive in accelerating the peace negotiations and in forging a more stable ceasefire agreement," said Agcaoili.

Agcaoili, who replaced Luis Jalandoni, said Duterte himself in his conversation with NDFP lawyers and GRP panelists on August 15 at Malacañang Palace, reaffirmed his belief in the correctness and justness of the 1956 Philippine Supreme Court decision on the case against Amado V. Hernandez on rebellion complex with common crimes.

"Compared to the various methods that I had recommended, such as archiving, bail, release on recognizance, etc., he stated that granting amnesty would be the most effective mode in releasing the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG)-protected persons, the sick, elderly, women and long-term detainees for humanitarian reasons, and all the political prisoners," he added.

In a separate press statement, the NDFP said the next substantive agenda on social and economic reforms would be discussed tomorrow.

Last month, the NDFP exchanged with the GRP a proposed “framework and outline” for the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms, the second substantive agenda of the peace negotiations according to the framework agreement set by The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992.

According to the NDFP proposal, the main Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER) objectives are:

• carry out agrarian reform and national industrialization;
• advance the rights of exploited, oppressed, discriminated and disadvantaged sectors of society;
• uphold, protect, defend and promote economic sovereignty; and c
• onserve the national patrimony and protect the environment.

— BAP/KG, GMA News