Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform

By Evelyn Macairan
Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s major religious groups yesterday said that they favor the resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) next month.

The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP), a church-based network composed of representatives of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC), and the Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum (EBF) issued the statement.

The PEPP is working for a just and enduring peace to resolve the roots of the armed conflict including the support to the peace negotiations based on previous mutual agreements.

“We commend the two panels and the third party facilitator, the Royal Norwegian Government, for successfully resolving the problems and removing the obstacles that stood in the way of the formal talks which has been stalled for the last five years,” said PEPP co-chairperson Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma.

The group is looking forward to the two parties resuming in earnest the negotiations on Social and Economic Reforms, it said in a joint statement.

“The urgency and importance of crafting a comprehensive agreement on this substantive agenda cannot be overemphasized, especially in the light of the current global and local financial and economic crisis resulting in increasing poverty and hardships for our people. We urge the two parties to negotiate these reforms that would address the roots of the armed conflict with the national interest and the people’s welfare foremost in mind,” PEPP added.

A co-chair, Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes said they are also looking forward to the reconvening of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC).

The JMC is mandated to monitor the implementation of the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

She said the JMC should quickly address the numerous complaints of human rights violations as a result of the armed conflict.

The church leaders pledged to mobilize their organizations to help and implement measures aimed to prevent human rights violations.

PEPP head of secretariat Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said they would help in the information and dissemination campaign of the CARHRIHL.