{"id":167610,"date":"2018-06-21T06:15:26","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T10:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=167610"},"modified":"2018-06-21T06:15:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T10:15:26","slug":"govt-formally-suspends-back-channel-talks-with-ndfp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/06\/21\/govt-formally-suspends-back-channel-talks-with-ndfp\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t formally suspends back channel talks with NDFP"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"FILE:<\/a>
FILE: Braganza said the NDFP representatives have expressed willingness to keep an open mind with Duterte\u2019s decision to suspend the resumption of peace talks. (PNA photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA\u00a0— The Philippine government has formally informed the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) about the government\u2019s decision to suspend all back channel talks pending the three-month review of all signed agreements related to the peace negotiations, a government negotiator announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Hernani Braganza, government negotiator for back channel talks with the NDFP, said the decision was conveyed in a meeting with NDFP leaders headed by chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili and chief political consultant Jose Ma. Sison in Utrecht, The Netherlands on June 18-20.<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon instruction of (Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process) Secretary Jesus Dureza and (Labor) Secretary Silvestre Bello III, a government team flew to Utrecht to formally communicate to the NDF(P) the decision of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to re-schedule the proposed resumption of government\u2019s peace negotiations with communist guerrillas,\u201d Braganza said in a press statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe suspension, however, does not preclude communications between the two parties if deemed necessary,\u201d he clarified.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, the government team also relayed its intention to use the three-month review period to consult government instrumentalities and the general public about the peace negotiations with the communist rebels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NDF(P) leaders, for their part, expressed intention to conduct their own separate actions and activities that aim to protect the gains already achieved as a result of back channel, informal and formal talks between the two panels,\u201d Braganza said.<\/p>\n

Braganza said the NDFP representatives have expressed willingness to keep an open mind with Duterte\u2019s decision to suspend the resumption of peace talks.<\/p>\n

He said the NDFP is also willing to wait for the outcome of the government\u2019s review of all signed agreements related to peace negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey reiterated their commitment to all signed agreements, including those involving the planned visit of Prof. Jose Ma. Sison in the Philippines to Manila for a meeting with the President,\u201d Braganza said.<\/p>\n

The government, he said, has also expressed appreciation for the NDFP\u2019s \u201copen-mindedness in coming to terms with President Duterte\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the NDFP is \u201cfavorably considering\u201d Dureza\u2019s invitation for its representatives to join the government\u2019s public consultations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our fervent hope that the consultations will help galvanize public support to peace efforts aimed at ending the armed conflict through the achievement of economic, social and political reforms,\u201d Brangaza said.<\/p>\n

The Philippine government has extended its appreciation to the NDFP, as well as to the representatives of the Royal Norwegian Government headed by Special Envoy for Peace Idun Tvedt, for their continuing support as third-party facilitators.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed the suspension of back channel talks to give way to more public consultations and a review of all peace deals.<\/p>\n

In a Palace briefing Thursday, Roque also extended the Duterte administration’s appreciation to the Royal Norwegian Government for its support to achieve peace between the Philippine government and the NDFP.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— The Philippine government has formally informed the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) about the government\u2019s decision to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":161234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[17644,16128,4790],"class_list":["post-167610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-national-democratic-front-of-the-philippines","tag-peace-negotiations","tag-philippine-government","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}