The Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have agreed in principle to resume peace negotiations, ending a six-year suspension of the talks which aim to resolve the roots of the over half-a-century armed conflict between the two sides.

The government and the NDFP announced the development in separate but coordinated press conferences on Tuesday afternoon. A joint statement signifying the two camps’ agreement to a “principled and peaceful resolution of the armed conflict” was signed on November 23 in Oslo, Norway.

“Resolving the roots of the armed conflict and ending the armed struggle shall pave the way for the transformation of the CPP-NPA-NDFP,” read part of the joint statement. “Consequently, we envision and look forward to a country where a united people can live in peace and prosperity.”

The revival of peace talks has been under consideration by the Marcos government and NDFP, both of whom have been holding informal talks since last year, with the assistance of the Norwegian government as a mediator.

This marks a departure from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s stance over the stalled peace negotiations. Just last April, a senior government official said the Marcos administration is rejecting further peace talks, claiming that the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist-inspired armed rebellion is now “in its dying stage.”

The Marcos administration is the first post-EDSA 2 presidency to not have formal peace negotiations in place at the start of its term. And just last week, Marcos signed a slew of amnesty proclamations that covered the NDFP, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the New People’s Army (NPA).

While the CPP expressed hope over the signing of the Oslo joint statement, it clarified that it was just the first step toward formally bringing the NDFP and the Philippine government back to the negotiating table.

Formal talks between the two parties have stalled since 2017 after former President Rodrigo Duterte terminated the negotiations. Duterte did not end there, despite initially being welcoming of peace negotiations. Throughout his term, Duterte abrogated various key peace negotiation documents, including the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees which grants the NDFP peace panel immunity from arrest.

“Sa kanyang maling akala na madudurog ang armadong rebolusyon gamit lamang ang armadong lakas, pinakawalan ni Duterte ang kanyang gera ng terorismo ng estado na kinatampukan ng mga pagdukot, tortyur, pagpatay at mga masaker,” said Marco Valbuena, chief spokesperson of the CPP.

For the CPP, the ball is now in Marcos’s court to formally start another round of peace negotiations.

In a statement published in Ang Bayan on Tuesday, CPP said peace talks would only begin once Marcos frees all imprisoned peace negotiators, rescinds the terrorist designation of the CPP, NDFP and NPA, abolishes the red-tagging agency National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, repeals Memorandum Order 32 which militarized parts of the country, and ends so-called “localized peace talks.”

The CPP’s demands have been a sticking point of the talks under Duterte’s term, especially when the latter declined to issue an amnesty proclamation for the NDFP’s jailed peace negotiators. Eventually, Duterte ordered the arrest of the released NDFP negotiators and even designated some of them as “terrorists” after the draconian Anti-Terrorism Law was passed.

Whether the Marcos government will experience the same stumbling block to peace has yet to be seen. But the president is optimistic that the signing of the joint statement could pave the way for eventual peace.

“We have always advocated and striven for a peaceful, prosperous, and unified country,” the president said in a statement. “I call upon the wholehearted support of all Filipinos as your government extends, in good faith, our nation’s goodwill to those ready to welcome and embrace our collective vision of peace, national reconciliation, and unity.”

A similar optimistic outlook was expressed by Luis Jalandoni, one of the NDFP’s signatories to the Oslo joint statement. 

“The road to a just and lasting peace is long and even tortuous. The journey will be challenging. The final destination will not be easy to reach,” he said. “So with this Joint Statement, we shall come back to the negotiating table with renewed impetus yet with guarded hope that the peace process can provide an important route for fundamental reforms for the interest and benefit of our people.” ●