Church ready to mediate in GRP-NDFP peace talks

Catholic Church officials have expressed willingness to mediate in peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and communist rebels. Bishops made this clear as they welcomed the government’s formation of a new peace panel to deal with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). “The Church continues to support sincere peace efforts," Catarman Bishop Emmanuel Trance said in an interview on Church-run Radio Veritas. But he added both parties should show enough “goodwill" to start the peace process. Excerpts of the interview were posted Monday on the Union of Catholic Asian News website. For his part, military bishop Leopoldo Tumulak said the government and rebels should address peoples’ interest during the peace talks as well. “Listening to people can help meet their needs and fulfill their values," he said. President Benigno Aquino III had formed a five-member panel to jumpstart “time-bound" and “agenda-bound" peace negotiations with communist rebels. For its part, the NDFP called on Catholic bishops to support the new peace negotiations. Group seeks resolution of roots of conflict Meanwhile, the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP), which has representatives from various Christian denominations, voiced hopes both parties can meet soon “to resolve the roots of the armed conflict towards a just and enduring peace." “(Negotiations will) hopefully result in policies that seek equal distribution of the country’s wealth and the development of its natural resources," said Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez Jr., PEPP head of secretariat. Iñiquez said PEPP is looking forward to the two parties resuming in earnest the negotiations on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER), which is the next agenda under The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, which is the framework for the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. “Of utmost importance are age-old issues of land reform, national industrialization and the protection of national patrimony," Iñiguez said. He added Church leaders are also looking forward to the reconvening of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) alongside the resumption of the formal talks. JMC is a mandated body to monitor the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHIHL), which was signed by both parties. Iñiguez also expressed hope that the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) which was suspended by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her term in office will be made functional anew. PEPP includes representatives from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC), the Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum (EBF) and the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP). Its co-chairpersons are Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma and Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz Duremdes, former General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines. - KBK, GMANews.TV