Says Libingan burial for Marcos not a deal breaker

The National Democratic Front said the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani "will not be a deal breaker" in peace talks with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte's government.

At the same time, NDF peace panel member Fidel Agcaoili and Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP) founder Jose Ma. Sison said Asia’s longest-running insurgency was ready to fast track a mutual ceasefire agreement with Duterte’s government.

While optimistic, the underground Left remains guarded. It also reiterated its call for the release of all 543 political detainees, including 18 of their consultants reportedly covered by safety guarantees.

Agcaoili said the NDF limit the number of locals who surface for the peace talks.

He acknowledged the brief honeymoon period between the NDF and the late President Corazon Aquino’s government created a security nightmare for the Left after the collapse of the talks. Hundreds of underground leaders were arrested or killed as rightist factions of the government flexed their muscles.

Instead of the different levels of peace talks, from the national to provincial levels, during Mrs. Aquino’s term, Agcaoili said it is possible that only one team would negotiate the mutual ceasefire agreement.

Agcaoili said the Southern Mindanao Command of the New People’s Army has agreed to release the head of the Governor Generoso Police Station in Davao Oriental, Chief Insp. Arnold Ongachen, as Duterte requested.

Sison, however, dismissed calls by incumbent military officials to hold off attacks now, saying the Aquino administration had spurned efforts to resume peace talks with the underground communist movement.

“Ceasefire without an agreement? Surrender? Kalokohan! (Foolishness),” Sison told journalists via Skype.

Even as both sides explore a ceasefire mechanism, talks will push through on an agreement on basic economic reforms.

The NDF officials also said the Left would continue to remind Duterte that all persons suspected of involvement in crimes are entitled to due process and a fair trial.

“Duterte is concerned over the violated rights of victims of drugs peddled by big criminal syndicates. Nakikiisa kami sa simpatya na para sa kanila,” Agcaoili said. (We share his sympathy towards victims of the drug syndicates.)

“Pero kailangan pa ding may due process,” he stressed.

Sison said technical issues need to be resolved before his return in July. He cited his Dutch residency and the need for travel documents issued by the Philippine government.

He also said security reasons would preclude a prolonged stay in the initial phases of the talks. Any effort to assassinate him, the leftist leader said, would also be motivated to undermine the new president.

Not all heroes at the Libingan

The NDF’s new statement on the Marcos Libingan ng Bayani burial meanwhile seems to be a concession to Duterte, who has openly approved a hero’s burial for the late dictator.

Agcaoili and Sison noted the cemetery was actually established by Americans for soldiers who died in their former colony.

Sison also pointed out that many military officials interred in the Libingan are not heroes and that some faced charges of human rights violations or corruption.

“Si Duterte nga sabi, anong hero-hero? Sundalo lang 'yan,” Sison said.

While Marcos’ valor in wartime and his medals have been contested, Sison said the late dictator had been a soldier in his younger years.

Both NDF leaders said that many rogues in uniforms are also buried in the cemetery.

"Kung idadagdag ang pangalan sa Bantayog ng mga Bayani ililibing, problema 'yan dahil doon talaga mga tunay na bayani," Agcaoili said. (If you add his name to the Monument of Heroes, that will be a problem because the people there are real heroes).

The Bantayog was built after the EDSA People Power Revolution to honor Filipinos who fought against the dictatorship.

Sison stressed that groups seeking to wrest justice from the heirs of the dictator should sustain their efforts.

Many military leftist groups campaigned against the dictator's son, Senator Ferdinand Marcos, during the last elections. These groups have also openly opposed the burial of Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The senator lost to Liberal Party candidate Leni Robredo, now Vice President-elect.

Key issues

On the presence of US troops and the reported establishment of five new American military facilities under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), Agcaoili said the NDF would push for a reversal.

“This is an issue we need to push,” he said.

Sison said he believes Duterte’s statements about establishing a more neutral and independent foreign policy and unleashed cuss words about US efforts to impose its will on the Philippines and Asia.

The NDF, however, is eager to push ahead with talks for an agreement on economic reforms.

It said the possible recall of former LP lawmaker Nani Braganza, also a former peace negotiator bodes well for the economic phase of the talks.

As agrarian reform secretary, Braganza helped dismantle huge agricultural estates that were being kept out of reach of beneficiaries, Agcaoili said.

He said the incumbent government’s refusal to tackle critical economic issues, which it deemed “ideologically charged,” was a key reason for the failure of peace talks to resume.

The NDF calls for genuine agrarian reform, just work conditions and national industrialization.

He stressed the importance of establishing state-run and private national industries to break the cycle of natural resources and raw materials propping up the profits of foreign powers.

“We have 15 of the most important metals in the world,” Agcaoili pointed out.

“Why is not possible to extract and process here, and even manufacture goods here instead to sending out earth and ore – and sometimes without foreign firms paying taxes at all,” he added.