DAVAO CITY (MArch 21) — President Rodrigo Duterte has dissolved the government panel negotiating for peace with the communist rebels and the appointment of the peace panel members have been terminated.
In letters addressed to each of the panel members dated March 18, the Office of the President said their appointments are now terminated since Duterte already ordered the cancellation of the talks in November 2017.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea signed the termination letters “by order of the President” on March 18.
The letter states “To ensure uninterrupted delivery of public service, you are hereby directed to turn over all official documents, papers and properties in your possession to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity.”
Termination letters were sent to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III who served as the chairperson of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) panel.
Other GRP members whose appointment have been terminated include Pangasinan congressman Hernani Braganza, former Commission on Elections commissioner Rene Sarmiento, human rights lawyer Angela Librado-Trinidad and former state prosecutor Antonio Arellano.
The termination of their appointment as government’s peace negotiators is “effective immediately”.
The series of attacks staged by the NPA rebels against government troops and civilians have prompted Duterte to terminate the peace talks with CPP-NPA which have been declared by the US and European Union as a terrorist organization.
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said the termination will pave the way for the creation of an inclusive panel that will supervise localized peace negotiations.
“The discontinuance of the services of the members of the GRP panel is in line with the termination of peace talks with the NDFP (National Democratic Front Panel). But we will reconstitute the panel at a national scope in accordance with the whole-of-nation approach. We are advocating to achieve inclusive and sustainable peace,” Galvez said in a statement.
Duterte’s decision came four days after he said in Davao City that he would never never consider consider returning to the peace negotiating if the communist rebels would not stop their alleged extortion activities.
During the National Peace and Order (NPOC) meeting here onMarch 14, Duterte stressed “I will reconstitute the panel, this time it will have a military and police component and civilians, mga professor.”
In December 2018, Duterte issued EO 70 which institutionalized a whole-of-nation approach in attaining peace and created a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict
Peace negotiations between the government and communist rebels bogged down in November 2017 after Duterte lamented the continued attacks by the rebels on troops and civilians.-NewsLine.ph
