Gov't peace negotiator: Socio-economic draft ready by Aug 29

Government peace negotiators dealing with communist rebels voiced confidence they will be ready with their draft socio-economic reform document when both sides meet again in Norway on August 29. Ednar Dayanghirang, who chairs the government's Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms (RWC-SER), said they are now finalizing their draft. “We are now finalizing our draft socio-economic reform in time for the bilateral talks in Oslo, Norway scheduled for August 29 up to the third week of September. We are hoping that we, the two committees, will be able to [make] an agreement and come up with one document so we can proceed with the other substantive agenda in the negotiations," he said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. Dayanghirang also said both government and NDF peace panels are one in that an unjust social situation has resulted in the prolonged conflict. Socio-economic reforms are the second of four agenda in the talks between the government and the National Democratic Front-Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army. The three others are:

• Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law;
• Political and Constitutional Reform; and
• End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces.

Human rights and international humanitarian law had been completed with the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) on March 16, 1998 in The Hague, The Netherlands. But it was only in 2004 that the CARHRIHL was activated with the formation of the GRP-NDF Joint Monitoring-Committee (JMC), which receives complaints of violations. Earlier, NDF peace panel vice chairman Fidel Agcaoili said the socio-economic reform agenda in the talks is very crucial to the peace talks. “This will help us deal with the causes of underdevelopment in the country. Why do people take up arms? Why are people poor? ...with these reforms, we can free the people. They will have added incomes, stronger purchasing power, higher wages," he said. He said this unjust social situation revolved around five issues: poverty, poor delivery of basic services, exploitation of indigenous peoples, inequitable distribution of wealth and resources, and unemployment and underemployment. — LBG, GMA News