The government reiterated today its seven-point proposal – topped by a declaration to suspend offensive military operations – to restart formal peace talks leading to a Final Peace Agreement with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front.

Secretary Silvestre Afable, Jr., head of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) Peace Exploratory Team, said that instead of agreeing to silence their guns and working out a Final Peace Agreement within six months, the communist negotiators demanded the delisting of the CPP-NPA-NDF and chairman Jose Maria Sison from the terrorist rolls of the United States and the European Union.

Afable was dispatched by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the Netherlands to propose fast-tracked peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA-NDF to end the decades-old communist insurgency.

The government remains open to negotiations, Afable said, but stressed that it is not inclined to change its position on the terrorist label on the CPP-NPA and Sison.

The CPP-NPA has engaged in terrorist acts against civilian targets such as extortion and arson; and destruction of public utilities and infrastructure, communications and power lines and transport facilities. It has also been engaged in the assassination of political leaders and innocent individuals as part of its overall objective of overthrowing the duly constituted government and the democratic system.

Nevertheless, the President herself has repeatedly expressed her sincerity in looking for means to end hostilities with the communist rebels while searching for ways to push national peace and development.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye also said the government has always maintained that it will be open to peace negotiations.

Following is the seven-point proposal presented by the GRP Exploratory Team to NDF panel chair Luis Jalandoni and Fidel Agcaoili in Utrecht, the Netherland:

1. An enhanced process whereby a single, comprehensive document in the form of a Final Peace Agreement will be the outcome at the end of the negotiations.

• Human Rights and International Humanitarian law (HR/IHL)
• Social and Economic Reforms (SER)
• Political and Constitutional Reforms (PCR)
• End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces (EOH/DOF)

3. An affirmation that the end-goal of the process is the peaceful resolution of the armed conflict, leading to a permanent cessation of hostilities and renunciation of violence, national unity and reintegration of rebel forces into mainstream society in accordance with the Philippine Constitution.

4. A mutually agreed upon Work Plan aiming for completion of the negotiations within a maximum period of six months.

5. The immediate setting up of four Reciprocal Working Committees (RWCs) by the respective negotiating panels – with one RWC assigned to one agenda item – to simultaneously review the pertinent portions of the proposed draft(s) and come to agreement on each of the agenda point.

6. As a confidence-building measure, the issuance of both parties of a unilateral declaration of suspension of military operations (SOMO) during the six-month negotiation process.

KUALA LUMPUR -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to call on member-nations of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to join hands in strengthening regional and global cooperation, promoting world peace and assuring individual socio-economic and political growth.

The President is slated to speak before at least 83 heads of state and representatives of the 114-member NAM during the grouping’s plenary session and general debate at the Putrajaya World Trade Center here on Monday (February 24).

She is the 11th representative of various regional groups who will address the NAM summit.

Other representatives who will deliver speeches include those from the United Nations and the Group of 77 and those from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The President, in a luncheon-interview last Wednesday (February 19) with members of the Malacanang Press Corps in Manila, said she would like to expound before the NAM the government’s position in asking Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to act in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations.

She said the Iraqi leader has in his power the decision to "avert a war" in the Persian Gulf.

The President is also expected to inform the NAM about the moves of the Philippine government and its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to combat domestic and regional terrorism.

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have lately agreed to cooperate with each other in preventing acts of terrorism in their shores, kicking off with a pact on information exchange and establishment of communication procedures signed in Putrajaya, here on May 2, 2002.

Similar agreements, designed to enhance existing bilateral defense, border and security cooperation arrangements among the three countries, have lately been expanded to include other members of the Asean.

Another key issue that the President may talk on is her desire to win the more pressing war against poverty in the Philippines within the next ten years.

This war, she had said in previous speeches before foreign officials and investors, could be replicated worldwide – meaning the strengthening of small and medium enterprises to spur domestic consumption, thereby creating jobs and moving the economy more actively.

A viable economy, she had added, would attract fresh capital and investments, which would translate to a better quality of life for the people.

During the President’s working visit here, she may conduct bilateral talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohammad.

"Malaysia has been very helpful to us in the peace process in the south. There are many developments taking place, so we will exchange notes," she earlier said.

Malaysia has hosted peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The President last week approved the draft of a final peace agreement with the MILF, whose peace panel, led by Al Haj Murad Ibrahim, is based here.

As this developed, she has sent Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns Norberto Gonzales to initiate contact with the MILF peace panel.

On June 22, 2001, both parties signed the GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement on Peace.

On May 6, 2002, both parties adopted a joint communique where they "agreed to the isolation and interdiction of all criminal syndicates and kidnap-for-ransom groups, including so-called ‘lost commands,’ operating in Mindanao." The communique was signed by Gonzales and MILF representative Lanang Ali.

The next day, May 7, 2002, Gonzales and MILF Technical Committee chairman Musib Buat signed the implementing guidelines on the humanitarian, rehabilitation and development aspects of the GRP-MILF Tripoli agreement on peace.

Expected to accompany the President in her working visit here are Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye and other officials.

KUALA LUMPUR -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to leave Manila at 8:15 tonight for a working visit to Malaysia and to attend the 13th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit slated here on February 24 and 25.

This trip to Malaysia is the President’s third. The first was when she made an official visit in August 2001. The second was when she attended the Pacific Basin Economic Council International Conference in May 2002.

In the NAM’s plenary session and general debate Monday afternoon after the opening program, the President will address some 83 heads of state, other country-leaders and representatives of international groups that include the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference.

She is the fifth speaker who will deliver a discourse highlighting the summit’s Agenda Item 8, which calls for a review of the international political and economic situation and the role of the NAM in the 21^st century.

She follows after Angola President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Yemen President Ali Abdullah Salleh, and Somalia President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, in that order.

Some 130 speakers are scheduled to give their separate comments on NAM Agenda Item 8 until Tuesday afternoon. They are given seven minutes each for their speeches.

During her speech, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said the President may opt to expound her thoughts on the Iraqi situation and the actions governments around the world take to counter terrorism and its despicable effects.

The President is slated to speak before at least 83 heads of state and representatives of the 114-member NAM during the international grouping’s plenary session and general debate at the Putrajaya World Trade Center here on Monday (February 24).

She is the 5th representative of various regional groups who will address the NAM summit. Other representatives who will deliver speeches include those from the United Nations (UN) and the Group of 77 and those from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Secretary Ople, in an interview at his room at the Ritz Carlton Hotel here, said the President’s position on the Iraqi issue "does not contradict" the position of the NAM.

Ople said the NAM member-countries had earlier resolved to avoid a war from erupting in the Persian Gulf, to employ peaceful political means to resolve the Iraqi issue and to enjoin Iraq to disarm in accordance with Resolution No. 1441 of the United Nations.

He added that even Iraq is supporting the UN resolution.

The President would not be isolated in the NAM meeting, as her critics insisted, Ople noted. "Her message on the Iraqi issue is consistent with the NAM resolution."

The President is also expected to bat for world peace before the NAM.

In past speeches, she had stressed that peace is a vital element in attaining social and economic development.

Ople said the President is likewise expected to inform the NAM about the moves of the Philippine government and its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to combat domestic and regional terrorism.

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to cooperate with each other in preventing acts of terrorism in their shores, kicking off with a pact on information exchange and establishment of communication procedures signed in Putrajaya, here on May 2, 2002.

Similar agreements, designed to enhance existing bilateral defense, border and security cooperation arrangements among the three countries, have lately been expanded to include other members of the Asean, particularly Thailand, Cambodia and Brunei Darussalam, Ople added.

The Foreign Affairs Secretary said that the President may seek for bilateral talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohammad and between concerned officials of the Philippines and Malaysia on concerns of mutual interest and benefit to both countries.

"Malaysia has been very helpful to us in the peace process in the south. There are many developments taking place, so we will exchange notes," she earlier said.