by Jigger J. Jerusalem, Philippine News Agency | Wednesday, 15 June 2016
The government peace panel and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) started “exploratory” talks Tuesday in Oslo, Norway, an incoming peace negotiator said Wednesday.
Jesus Dureza, in-coming peace negotiator of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, reported in his Facebook account from Oslo that his team sat down with CPP officials, headed by exiled CPP Chair Jose Maria Sison, Tuesday afternoon.
The CPP officials also include representatives from the National Democratic Front (NDF) and the New People’s Army (NPA), the CPP’s military arm.
Dureza said that both parties conducted an exploratory and informal talk about the possible resumption of peace negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the CPP.
He said that the peace negotiations between the GRP and the CPP gained headway during the incumbency of President Benigno Aquino, but “stalled” in midstream due to some technical issues.
Dureza did not elaborate about the initial meeting with the CPP-NDF-NPA panel in Oslo, but said that both panels “shared the optimism on the declaration of President-elect Rody Duterte to seek an early sustainable peace for the nation.”
Dureza, together with fellow negotiators Silvestre Bello III and Hernani Braganza, flew to Oslo on June 10. (PNA)
