Press Statement
14 November 2010

Chairperson Luis Jalandoni of the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is at grave risk if he goes to Manila while the regime of President Benigno Aquino III has not rectified the grave violations of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), such as the pending trumped up charges against Chairperson Jalandoni and all the human rights violations done by the Arroyo regime and continued by the Aquino regime against NDFP panelists, consultants and staffers.

It may not also be appropriate for Chairperson Jalandoni to publicly meet with Atty. Alex Padilla, Chairperson of the GRP Negotiating Panel, in Manila prior to the exchange of credentials at the resumption of formal talks in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.

President Aquino himself has publicly shown a negative attitude towards the NDFP by rebuffing the offer of a courtesy call on him by Chairperson Jalandoni and claiming impotency over the prosecution (an arm of the GRP executive) in matters involving blatantly false charges and other violations of human rights. Such claim has only emboldened the GRP military and police forces to misuse the prosecution arm of the executive and in doing worse even against those protected by the JASIG.

The Aquino regime allows the culture of impunity to prevail in its military and police forces. It refuses to conduct investigations of the human rights violations under the Arroyo regime and seems impotent in stopping the extra-judicial killings (22 since Aquino came to power) and the indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombings of communities, gunfire strafing of civilian houses, occupation of schools and health centers, and hamletting and food blockade that have caused massive displacement of people in the countryside.

The NDFP calls for the immediate implementation of the JASIG.
President Aquino should also show political will in putting an end to the culture of impunity that pervades the GRP military and police forces.

Website: http://www.ndfp.net

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