THE Duterte government has suspended the backchannel negotiations with the communists' political wing, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), to pave the way for a three-month review of all the agreements signed so far.
Hernani Braganza, the government's negotiator for backchannel talks, conveyed the government's decision in a meeting with a team of NDFP consultants led by chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili in Utrecht, Netherlands.
Nevertheless, Braganza clarified that the two parties could still communicate "if deemed necessary."
"The government team also conveyed the Philippine government's decision to suspend all backchannel talks with the NDF pending the three-month review of all signed agreements related to the peace negotiations," he said in a statement Thursday, June 21.
"The suspension, however, does not preclude communications between the two parties if deemed necessary," he added.
The meeting was attended by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison and witnessed by third-party facilitators from the Royal Norwegian Governmet led by Special Envoy for Peace Idun Tvedt.
The suspension of backchannel negotiations comes a week after President Rodrigo Duterte instructed the government peace panel to re-schedule the resumption of talks with the NDFP leaders.
READ: Duterte not ready to resume peace talks
On June 14, Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Jesus Dureza said the President sought a public consultation first before allowing the revival of peace negotiations with the communist guerillas.
Braganza said the NDF leaders, during the meeting in the Netherlands, had assured the government that they would be open-minded with regard to Duterte's decision.
"During the meeting, the NDF representatives expressed willingness to keep an open mind on the President's decision and wait for the outcome of the government's review before eproceeding with any peace conversation with government," he said.
"They reiterated their commitment to all signed agreement, including those involving the planned visit of professor Jose Maria Sison in the Philippines to Manila for a meeting with the President," he added.
Braganza noted that the three-month review would cover Dureza's conduct of consultation with government instrumentalities and the general public about the negotiations and other substantive issues concerning the impending talks with the communist movement.
"It 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," he said.
He added that the NDF would also conduct a separate actions and activities "that aim to protect the gains already achieved as a result of backchannel, informal and formal talks between the two panels."
The NDFP, in a separate statement, said it would hold consultations on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social Economic Reforms (CASER), specifically on the issues in the sections on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development and National Industrialization and Economic Development.
It also sought to polish its draft on Environmental Rehabilitation and Compensation and Upholding People's Rights, as a preparation for the continuation of negotiations on CASER.
The NDFP would also hold unilateral consultations with its working group on Politican and Constitutional Reforms.
"In the meantime, both sides expressed their intention to conduct separate unilateral consultations and in due course bilateral consultations according to their respective needs," the NDFP said.
"The two sides expressed their commitment to protect and preserve the gains that had been achieved in the four rounds of informal talks that produced documents containing important agreements to move forward the process," it added. (SunStar Philippines)