Antipolo, Rizal, May 17 – The government Reciprocal Working Committee (RWC) has begun drafting its version of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-economic Reforms (CASER) that will be presented by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel at the next round of formal talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP).
The committee has identified the key principles that will ground the position of the GPH panel in the bilateral meeting of CASER tentatively scheduled during the second week of June.
With insights from the focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) conducted in April and May among various stakeholders, RWC-SER Chair Ednar Dayanghirang said "This is unprecedented. We have made the people part of the peace negotiations. A peaceful and just settlement of conflicts is meant to be inclusive of the interests of all.”
The FGDs and KIIs covered issues related to indigenous peoples (IPs), urban land reform, fisheries and forest reform, inclusive growth, agrarian reform, environmental risk, resource access and utilization (local and national), industrial policy and agricultural development, and social protection.
More of these research instruments tackling several other issues are expected to be completed as the peace talks progress.
Exchange of drafts
The GPH draft will be exchanged for review with the NDFP version two weeks prior to the first RWCs-SER bilateral meeting.
These drafts will focus on “agrarian reform and rural development” for the NDFP and “asset reform” for the GPH, and “national industrialization” for the NDFP and “industrial policy” for the GPH.
A total of three bilateral meetings have been set by both parties. The two other meetings are scheduled for the second and fourth weeks of August.
The consolidated CASER is slated to be finished for submission to the negotiating panels by September 2011.
CASER to address the causes of conflict
Dayanghirang underscored the importance of CASER in paving the way for a negotiated political settlement with the CPP-NPA-NDFP.
“This is the meat of the much-needed reforms. We are putting into writing our response to the causes of conflict,” he stated.
Fr. Albert Alejo, RWC-SER member, is upbeat on the just-concluded writeshop that produced the draft agreement.
“We are all in consensus that asset reform is not just agrarian reform. We’ve broadened its scope to include fisheries, forest, and urban land reform,” he said.
Prof. Fernando Aldaba, another committee member, said that “reducing inequality is key – we should work for increase not only of income but also of individual assets.”
In the same light, Atty. Aison Garcia, one of the government’s consultants on agrarian reform, said that the increase in assets should help uplift the lives of the marginalized sectors. “It’s all about making economic growth work for the poor.”
Also present at the writeshop were Jimid Mansayagan, consultant for IP concerns; Proculo Fuentes, consultant on basic services concerns; Joselito Sescon, consultant on inclusive growth/ industrial policy concerns; and Atty. Jun Quicho, consultant on environmental risk concerns.
SER, one of the four substantive agenda
SER is one of the four agenda items affirmed by The Hague Joint Declaration as instrumental in the eventual forging of a final political settlement between the GPH and the CPP-NPA-NDFP.
The agenda on human rights and international humanitarian law had earlier been addressed in 1998, when the two parties signed the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
The remaining agenda for discussion within the agreed upon three-year time frame of the peace talks are political-constitutional reforms (PCR), and end of hostilities and disposition of forces (EoH/DoF).#
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