BAYAN Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate has reiterated what he called "the people's call" for the resumption of the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in time with the celebration of the 10th National Peace Consciousness Month.
"The most concrete way of showing consciousness about peace is for the GPH and the NDFP to go back to the negotiating table and respect the previously signed agreements that served as the basis of the stalled talks," he said, particularly referring to the 21-year-old Hague Joint Declaration that was signed by both parties on September 1, 1992.
The Joint Hague Declaration outlined the scope and the four sequential substantive agenda of the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations.
Zarate also expressed support for the peace caravan and rally initiated on Monday by the inter-faith advocacy group Pilgrims for Peace and other civil society and people's organizations, pushing for the resumption of the stalled talks.
"It is just unfortunate to note that the Aquino administration peace agenda is skewed and selective as reflected in President Aquino's failure to even mention its progress during his recent State of the Nation Address (Sona)," Zarate said.
The GPH-NDFP negotiations hit a snag in February 2011, following the government's failure to release political prisoners, particularly the detained NDFP consultants, which was an agreed confidence-building measure in the resumption of the talks.
Also, charges of the continued violation by the government of the provisions of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig) has also affected the resumption of the talks, Zarate said, citing the July 28 arrest of Ma. Loida Magpatoc, a Jasig-covered consultant from the NDFP Far South Mindanao Region.
Zarate also noted the need to "scrutinize" the performance of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (Opapp), particularly in the ongoing budget deliberations of the proposed 2014 national budget, where Opapp is asking for a P351,547,000 budget.
This Opapp requested budget is on top of the P7 billion Pamana (PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn) Fund that it administers as part of the government's peace and development program.