OPENING STATEMENT

by LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
Oslo, 15 February 2011

State Secretary Espen Barth Eide, Deputy Director General Tomas Stangeland, Ambassadors Ture Lundh and Knut Solem, and other members of the Royal Norwegian Government facilitation team, Fredrik Steen, Lisa Golden, Aina Holm and Ida Marstein.

Secretary Teresita Deles, Chairperson of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process of the Government of the Philippines (GPH), formerly known as the GRP, Atty. Alexander A. Padilla, Chairperson of the GPH Negotiating Panel, members of the GPH Negotiating Panel Atty. Pablito Sanidad, Mr. Ednar Dayanghirang, Ms. Maria Lourdes Tison, Ms. Jurgette Malonzo, and the other members of the GPH delegation,

We in the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel wish to warmly greet and convey our heartfelt thanks to the Royal Norwegian Government for its determined and painstaking efforts as Third Party Facilitator in working for this very significant resumption of formal peace talks between the GPH and the NDFP.

By LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

Dear Friends in the Ecumenical Bishops Forum and other participants in this EBF Forum on Peace,

We in the NDFP Negotiating Panel warmly greet you.  We thank you for your invitation to give a presentation in this peace forum.  We appreciate your commitment to strive for a just and lasting peace in our country.

May we present some basic points about our standpoint on the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.

We take a long-term view of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, consider its fundamental aspects and then look forward to what can be achieved.

By LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

The NDFP is committed to strive for a just and lasting peace in our country... On the basis of The Hague Joint Declaration and the other agreements already signed, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines is willing and ready to resume formal peace talks with the new administration of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP). We aim for peace talks that address the roots of the armed conflict through fundamental economic, social and political reforms.

By LUIS G. JALANDONI

Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) stands firmly for the resumption of formal peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on the basis of The Hague Joint Declaration and the subsequent agreements up to Oslo I and II. The NDFP affirms that these agreements are binding and effective... In order that the formal peace talks between the GRP and the NDFP can be resumed, the GRP must comply with the agreements it has signed with the NDFP and must do away with the impediments to the peace negotiations that it has put up in violation of said agreements.

Paper presented by Ms. LEVIE C. EBIO

NDFP-Joint Secretariat Nominee

Church leaders and organizations have played different important direct and indirect roles at key moments of the peace negotiations. There is no one fixed or constant role because this is a dynamic and evolving process, depending on context and changing circumstance. What is important is the readiness to be involved in a meaningful way and being able to recognize the need of the moment and to act accordingly.