Judging the prospects for peace talks with the NDFP in 2015
By Soliman M. Santos, Jr.
Naga City, 21 January 2015
The hugely successful visit of Pope Francis, which took the whole country by storm, still reverberates. Will its surging waves of goodwill, as well as calls for prophetic action, carry with it a soon enough resumption of peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)? The best recent sign that something is brewing on the NDFP peace front was Inquirer’s banner headline last December 28 that “Joma looks forward to meet with P-Noy.” This right after Jose Maria Sison, Chief Political Consultant of the NDFP, and founding Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which leads the New People’s Army (NPA), had said both parties might resume talks probably soon enough after Pope Francis’ visit.
Given the past long track record of more-off-than-on and more-failed-than-successful peace talks, the questions that come to the mind boil down to three: [1] What really in terms of peace talks is afoot this remaining one-and-a-half years of the Aquino administration? [2] What are the prospects that something good enough – in terms of tangible gains and moving that process forward — will come out of any new talks? [3] What needs to be done to push these talks forward?Read More »Judging the prospects for peace talks with the NDFP in 2015