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Resume Formal Peace Talks
Without Preconditions. Pursue Negotiations on Economic and Social Reforms
for the Benefit of Filipino Migrants and their Families
Support for Peace Talks from
Filipinos in Australia and New Zealand * Open Letter to President Benigno
Simeon Aquino III, the GRP and NDFP Peace Negotiating Panels
We, concerned Filipinos in
Australia and New Zealand, join all peace-loving Filipinos in urging the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to immediately resume formal
peace talks without preconditions. As stakeholders in the peace process,
Filipino migrants look forward
to the resumption of GRP-NDFP
negotiations on the second substantive agenda of Social and Economic
Reforms.
The phenomenon of forced
migration is a state of UNPEACE for Filipino families torn apart as a
result of the worsening unemployment in the country. Everyday, the
realities of unpeace affect the millions of Filipinos working overseas and
their dependent families in the
Philippines, manifested in:
Unabated
increases in the price of basic commodities and services while workers’
wages and salaries remain
stunted;
Neglect
of state duty to protect migrants’ rights and welfare, including the
latest budget cut in legal assistance for migrants amid rising number of
distressed Filipinos abroad;
Plunder
of national patrimony through massive logging, mining and other commercial
projects that destroy people’s livelihood and environment;
Eviction,
homelessness and landlessness of the urban and rural poor while the rich
few continue to lord it over vast tracts of land;
Accumulation
of obscene profits by big foreign business and local elite at the expense
of the poor through unbridled trade liberalisation, deregulation and
privatisation;
Corruption
in the government bureaucracy resulting to the squander of public funds
including hard-earned workers’ and OFW contributions;
Ever
worsening unemployment and underemployment that drive Filipinos to seek
jobs abroad.
We urge the GRP and NDFP
panels to ensure that migrants’ issues and concerns would be among the
priority agenda in the negotiations. We ask both parties to actively lobby
for the governments of Australia, New Zealand and other migrants-receiving
countries to immediately ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; and to forge specific
agreements to protect migrants from discrimination and abuse. In the
immediate, we expect urgent attention and action on the following
migrants’ demands:
-
Scrap all exorbitant and
excessive state exactions and fees including additional fees on
passport.
-
Increase legal assistance
and repatriation fund for migrant workers and OFWs in distress.
-
Stop the deployment of OFWs
to high-risk destinations.
-
Ensure adequate livelihood
assistance for returning OFWs including those made redundant due to the
global economic crisis;
-
Stop human and sex
trafficking.
-
Strictly monitor and
permanently black-list recruitment agencies with notorious record of
placing OFWs in precarious situations.
We fully support Migrante
International’s challenge to President Benigno Aquino III to stop
promoting labour export as a tool for development. We believe there is no
way to solve forced migration but to aggressively pursue local job
generation through improving our local agriculture and industry by
implementing genuine agrarian reform and nationalist industrialization.
United in hope for the GRP and
NDFP to resolve the fundamental causes of unpeace and economic insecurity
in the Philippines, we pledge our solemn commitment to support the
resumption of GRP-NDFP peace negotiations and all accompanying efforts
that will bring a better future where Filipinos can truly enjoy the fruits
of social justice, enduring peace and security.
Endorsed by:
MIGRANTE – AUSTRALIA
MIGRANTE – AOTEAROA (NEW ZEALAND)
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Click here for audio of
Australian news |
November 18, 2010
PRESS STATEMENT
Resume peace talks without
pre-conditions for a just and lasting peace
and genuine progress in the
Philippines
MIGRANTE Australia believes
that the Filipino community in Australia has a stake in the resumption of
peace process between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)
and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
We, the Filipinos in
Australia, are compelled to seek work in a foreign land because of a
backward agrarian and pre-industrial Philippine economy that cannot
provide adequate employment for a rapidly growing labor force in the
country.
We are aware that since the
peace process started in 1987, very significant agreements have been
reached. One of these is the Comprehensive Agreement for the Respect of
Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), the first of
the four (4) substantive agenda in the peace process.
The overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) believe that the second substantive agenda, the
Social and
Economic Reforms (SOCER), if finally implemented, may hold the key
to a solution to end the Filipino Diaspora all over the world. An
agreement and implementation of the second substantive agenda will
eliminate the reasons why Filipinos are forced to work abroad, who face
risks and dangers and leave their families and love ones back home.
The Australian government has
been sending aid to the Philippines for a long time. But it is undeniable
that such kind gesture is sometimes wasted in corruption, or in excessive
militarization that spews grave human rights abuses.
We voice this concern at the
same time that we
also urge the Australian government to stop destructive mining operations
and other business ventures that contribute to social conflict and instill
fear to communities.
The peace negotiations in the
Philippines have
been a long and tedious process between the two parties. It is only
regrettable that every new Philippine administration imposes conditions
that are contrary to the spirit and intent of the peace process itself.
The peace process can only proceed without preconditions, and in an
atmosphere that respects past agreements between the GRP and the NDFP.
We, in
Australia, are hopeful that the resumption of peace talks can also help in
urging the two parties to return to the negotiating table, like what
Norway and The Netherlands did in the past.
We
call on all peace-loving people of the world to support the peace
negotiations between the GRP and the NDFP for a just and peaceful
Philippines and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
Mr Luis Jalandoni
and Ms Coni Ledesma, both members of the NDFP negotiating panels, are in
Australia from the 14th to 27th November on a
speaking tour to highlight the role of the NDFP and its 12 point program
in attaining a long and lasting peace and genuine progress in the
Philippines. They will be in
Melbourne
on the 18th to 20th of November.
Click here Nov 20, 2010 5:51am
International Representative of the National Democratic Front and Chair of
the NDF Negotiatiing panel for peace talks continues with his Australian
tour. Here he speaks to the ABC tv's 24 NewsLine with Jim Middleton - here
are excerpts. Then check the full interview on
http://australianetwork.com/newsline/
length: 0:39
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PRESS RELEASE
30 November 2010
FILIPINOS IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND HOPE FOR RESUMPTION OF PEACE TALKS
THAT WILL ADDRESS OFW ISSUES
Concerned Filipinos in Australia and New Zealand have joined calls for the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to immediately resume formal
peace talks without preconditions, especially on the
second substantive agenda of Social and Economic Reforms.
In a letter addressed to Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino and
the heads of the GRP and NDFP Peace Negotiating Panels, leaders of
Filipino community organisations declared, “We urge the GRP and NDFP
panels to ensure that migrants’ issues and concerns would be among the
priority agenda in the negotiations. We ask both parties to actively
lobby for the governments of Australia, New Zealand and other
migrants-receiving countries to immediately ratify the UN Convention on
the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; and to
forge specific agreements to protect migrants from
discrimination and abuse.”
“It is deplorable that the US State Department make Filipinos especially
those in the Middle East more vulnerable to racist attacks, random
questioning, harassment, raids and arrests with its grossly irresponsible
report that “the Abu Sayyaf Group is funded through acts of ransom and
extortion and may receive funding from external sources such as
remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and possibly Middle
East-based extremists,” George Kotsakis, Chairperson of Migrante
Australia,
Dennis Maga, Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand national coordinator says,
“OFWs are working in difficult conditions, fighting hard for economic
survival, denied of government assistance, insulted by the likes of
Hongkong Labour Attaché Labatt Salud and other negligent officials. We
need our government and migrants-receiving governments to protect and
promote migrants rights rather than endanger their lives and jobs through
unjust US-led terrorist listings.”
In the last four weeks, Filipinos in New Zealand and Australia gathered in
a series of public meetings on the status and prospects of peace talks
between the Aquino government and the NDFP during the peace speaking tour
of Luis Jalandoni and Coni Ledesma of the NDFP
Peace Negotiating Panel from 28th October to 27th November. In these
meetings, Ledesma has noted, "We have been living as political exiles in
The Netherlands since the Marcos dictatorship. Today around 10% of the
Philippine population are also forced to be 'economic exiles' because
there are not enough jobs and vast tracts of land remain in the hands of
multinationals and traditional elite in the Philippines."
“As the nation commemorates the birth of the great freedom fighter Andres
Bonifacio today, we reiterate challenge to the Aquino government to
increase workers' wages and create decent jobs at home so that Filipinos
will not be forced to work abroad. The worsening
poverty of Filipinos under corrupt government after another compel us to
fight for change just as colonial oppression compelled Bonifacio and the
Katipuneros to fight for our nation’s freedom over 100 years ago,” Maga
concluded.
Reference: George Kotsakis, Chairperson, Migrante Australia
migrante.aussie@optusnet.com.au; +61413 041 514
Dennis Maga, National Coordinator, Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand
migrante@xtra.co.nz; +64226073918
Full Text of Letter:
Resume Formal Peace Talks Without Preconditions. Pursue Negotiations on
Economic and Social Reforms for the Benefit of Filipino Migrants and their
Families * Open Letter to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, the GRP and
NDFP Peace Negotiating Panels
RE: Support for Peace Talks from Filipinos in Australia and New Zealand
We, concerned Filipinos in Australia and New Zealand, join all
peace-loving Filipinos in urging the Government of the Republic of the
Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)
to immediately resume formal peace talks without preconditions. As
stakeholders in the peace process, Filipino migrants look forward
to the resumption of GRP-NDFP negotiations on the second substantive
agenda of Social and Economic Reforms.
The phenomenon of forced migration is a state of UNPEACE for Filipino
families torn apart as a result of the worsening unemployment in the
country. Everyday, the realities of unpeace affect the millions of
Filipinos working overseas and their dependent families in the
Philippines, manifested in:
Unabated increases in the price of basic commodities and services while
workers’
wages and salaries remain stunted;
Neglect of state duty to protect migrants’ rights and welfare,including
the latest budget cut in legal assistance for migrants amid rising number
of distressed Filipinos abroad;
Plunder of national patrimony through massive logging, mining and other
commercial projects that destroy people’s livelihood and environment;
Eviction, homelessness and landlessness of the urban and rural poor while
the rich few continue to lord it over vast tracts of land;
Accumulation of obscene profits by big foreign business and local elite at
the expense of the poor through unbridled trade liberalisation,
deregulation and privatisation;
Corruption in the government bureaucracy resulting to the squander of
public funds including hard-earned workers’ and OFW contributions;
Ever worsening unemployment and underemployment that drive Filipinos to
seek jobs abroad.
We urge the GRP and NDFP panels to ensure that migrants’ issues and
concerns would be among the priority agenda in the negotiations. We ask
both parties to actively lobby for the governments of Australia, New
Zealand and other migrants-receiving countries to immediately ratify the
UN Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families; and to forge specific agreements to protect migrants from
discrimination and abuse. In the immediate, we expect urgent attention and
action on the following migrants’ demands:
• Scrap all exorbitant and excessive state exactions and fees including
additional fees on passport. • Increase legal assistance and repatriation
fund for migrant workers and OFWs in distress. • Stop the deployment of
OFWs to high-risk destinations. • Ensure adequate livelihood assistance
for returning OFWs including those made redundant due to the global
economic crisis; • Stop human and sex trafficking. • Strictly monitor and
permanently black-list recruitment agencies with notorious record of
placing OFWs in precarious situations.
We fully support Migrante International’s challenge to President Benigno
Aquino III to stop promoting labour export as a tool for development. We
believe there is no way to solve forced migration but to aggressively
pursue local job generation through improving our
local agriculture and industry by implementing genuine agrarian reform and
nationalist industrialization.
United in hope for the GRP and NDFP to resolve the fundamental causes of
unpeace and economic insecurity in the Philippines, we pledge our solemn
commitment to support the resumption of GRP-NDFP peace negotiations and
all accompanying efforts that will bring a better future where Filipinos
can truly enjoy the fruits of social justice, enduring peace and security.
Endorsed by the Officers and Members of Migrante Australia, Gabriela
Australia, Lingap Migrante (Migrants' Aid Australia),
Philippines-Australia Women's Association (PAWA) New South Wales, Migrante
Aotearoa New Zealand and concerned individuals from Ilonggo Integrated
Association and Migrant Action Trust.
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Luis Jalandoni's interview with the ABC Radio Australia, which is airs
its broadcast on national and international level - also streaming live.
This is the transcript of LJ's interview
Read on:
Philippines communist party in peace talks
[
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201011/s3070984.htm
]http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201011/s3070984.htm
You can listen: [
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/connectasia/stories/m1941862.asx
]http://www.abc.net.au/ra/connectasia/stories/m1941862.asx
[
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/connectasia/stories/m1941862.asx
]Windows Media
Updated November 19, 2010 10:57:02
When Benigno Aquino III took office as president of the Philippines
earlier this year, one of his key pledges was to kickstart the stalled
peace process with the country's two main insurgent groups, the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front, and the Communist New People's Army.
Both conflicts are decades old, and have resulted in much bloodshed and
suffering. Only this week, several civilians were killed in a military
clash with the communists on the island of Leyte. Indeed, it's regarded as
the longest-running communist insurgency in Asia. For many years, talks
have been conducted on stop-start basis with the MILF negotiations on
autonomy in the Muslim-dominated south, considered far more advanced.
But now, the
Aquino government has appointed a team of negotiators to sit down with the
Communists' political arm, the National Democratic Front for
talks overseen by the government of Norway.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: Luis Jalandoni, chieg negotiator
Philippines National Democratic
Front
· Listen:
· [
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/connectasia/stories/m1941862.asx ]Windows
Media
JALANDONI: Well, it still have to be really
started, but the appointment
of a new negotiating parliament with a new chair person is a positive
indication of talks being resumed within the following months.
LAM: So when will you meet your newly appointed government counterpart,
Alexander Padilla. Now he's a human rights lawyer. Can you talk to him, is
he someone you can do business with?
JALANDONI: Yes, I think so. When he was appointed,
I sent an email to
congratulate him and he responded by inviting me to meet with him soon,
perhaps a few days after the end of our Australian tour, the early days of
December, I will be able to meet Mr Alex Padilla.
LAM: And Luis, this, of course, is a very long running conflict. How can
the Philippines seek a practical national reconciliation, do you think?
JALANDONI: Well, we signed an agreement in 1992
stating that the
substantive agenda of peace talks would be human rights and international
humanitarian law. After that, social and economic reforms like land reform
and national industrialisation cleared the political and constitutional
reforms and finally when all of this has been taken up and approved and
implemented, then we could take up the end of hostilities and this
position of forces.
In 1998, the agreement of human rights and international humanitarian law
was fine and now we should go into the second substantive agenda, social
and economic reforms.
LAM: So you will not advise the New People's Army to lay down arms in the
meantime?
JALANDONI: Well no, we think that that should be
at the end of the process
of addressing the roots of the armed conflict, so that the problems and
aspirations of the ....? and workers and the population have already been
addressed, so that has been put at number four of the substantive agenda.
In the meantime, there are ceasefires of short duration, such as on
Christmas holidays, on Holy Week, or during catastrophes. There are many
such ceasefires or short duration which both sides agree to and this
improved the atmosphere for peace talks.
LAM: So when you enter those talks as you say in a few months time
hopefully. what are some of your key demands?
JALANDONI: Well, the key demand should be for the
implementation for the agreement on human rights and international
humanitarian law, the stopping of the extrajudicial killings which
amounted to more than 1,200 killings of unarmed civilians, the release of
political prisoners and 388 of them, including the 43 community health
workers illegally arrested and detained last February.
LAM: Is land still a major issue for the NDF? I mean one of the reasons
why the New People's Army came about was because lots of indigenous and
indeed local peasantry were displaced by the land barons. Is that still a
big issue in the Philippines?
JALANDONI: It is the very big issue, perhaps the
biggest issue, because 75
per cent of the population of 90 million are peasants and there are mostly
landless and there is a monopolisation of land by the big landlords and
foreign corporation. So this is a very big issue and the point in this
discussion on social and economic reforms yes.
LAM: Just very briefly Luis, you've been in exile for many years now as
has your colleague and party founder Jose Maria Sison. Why isn't there
greater involvement from your movements leaders from within the
Philippines?
JALANDONI: Oh, there is a great involvement. The
leaders of the movement and many organisations will be in the
revolutionary movement. They are all involved and they are all confronted
and they participate and so their participation is essential. So the
negotiating partners and onlproceed
with the mandate and the authorisation of the leaders and the
organisations in the Philippines.#
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