Gov't targets peace pact closure w/ rebel groups

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  — The Philippine government expects to sign a closure agreement with the Tabara-Paduano Group (TPG) of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas-Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB) this April.

Undersecretary Luisito Montalbo of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), who was in Bacolod Thursday, said in a press briefing said both parties have agreed on an end-goal which is “the transformation of the RPMP-RPA-ABB into a political, economic, and social organization engaged in development political work.”

Montalbo, who heads the government panel, said both parties have agreed on the objectives, principles, and components that will be included in the draft agreement after a three-day joint writeshop that ended Thursday.

The writeshop, held at Sugarland Hotel in this city, was attended by RPMP chief Veronica Tabara, RPA-ABB national commander Stephen Paduano alias Carapali Lualhati, and other leaders of the rebel groups.

Montalbo was joined by Col. Dickson Hermoso of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Peace Process Office, Assistant Secretary Anselmo Abungan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and lawyer Joemer Aquino of the OPAPP Legal and Security Unit.

“These three days have been very productive. I thank our local government partners for actively participating in the whole process. It affirms that a convergence can work, and that when stakeholders are engaged early on, the prospects of closure with RPMP-RPA-ABB are even more viable and sustainanle, ” Montalbo said.

The closure is a target of the Aquino administration so the next president does not inherit an open-ended peace process, he said, adding that the TPG has 650 to 700 members, including those from Negros Occidental and Oriental, Panay, Mindanao, and Metro Manila and majority, or 476 of them, are in Negros Occidental.

The RPMP-RPA-ABB, a breakaway group of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, signed a peace agreement with the government on December 2000 at rites held at Don Salvador Benedicto town, Negros Occidental that was witnessed by then President Joseph Estrada and former Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.

In 2007, the group had split into two factions, one of which was the Nilo de la Cruz Group, which is negotiating separately with the government through a panel led by National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary Joel Rocamora.

Meanwhile, Montalbo said the controversial P31-million funding set aside for the RPMP-RPA-ABB is part of the “entire funding requirement particularly focused on communities in Negros.” It will be released under PAMANA or Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Peaceful and Resilient Communities), the government’s program and framework for peace and development, he said.

“The main issue of whether the P31 million goes directly to the RPMP-RPA-ABB will be quickly put to rest because all the funding goes to the provincial government, so no money is going directly to the RPMP-RPA-ABB,” said Montalbo. Of this fund, P23 million will go to Negros Occidental while the P8 million will go to Negros Oriental, he said. (FREEMAN)