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PRESS STATEMENTS & INTERVIEWS, 2001 - Present |
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Press Statement 26 July 2001 THIRD ROUND OF
OSLO TALKS IN AUGUST By Jose Maria Sison NDFP Chief Political Consultant
It is doubtful whether the third round of formal talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) can be held in Oslo, Norway in August. It is because the GRP has failed to fulfill the promises it made before and during the first round of Oslo talks to accelerate the release of political prisoners, refrain from committing gross human rights violations and undertake other goodwill measures. There will be no time for both the GRP and the NDFP negotiating panels to prepare for the third round of Oslo talks in August if the GRP fails to deliver on the promised goodwill measures before the end of July. If the month of August is missed, then the September elections in Norway will result in the further postponement of the talks. It will also take some time before the new government in Norway is ready to host and facilitate the third round of talks. It is entirely the responsibility of the GRP that the schedule for the negotiations on social and economic reforms has been upset and delayed by the GRP reneging on promises and scuttling the second round of talks. The NDFP is very much interested in pushing the negotiations on social and economic reforms, especially because the "state of the nation" address of Macapagal offers only a string of false promises about jobs, education, shelter and food within the destructive framework of "free market" globalization. The NDFP wants to accelerate the peace negotiations. But it is also ready to wage every possible form of struggle against the Macapagal regime and take advantage of the rapidly worsening crisis of the domestic ruling system and the world capitalist system. The NDFP is keenly aware that the Macapagal regime is
intensifying military campaigns of suppression against the
people and the revolutionary forces and is escalating the
exploitation and oppression of the people. # |
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