By LUIS G. JALANDONI Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
Dear Friends in the Ecumenical Bishops Forum and other participants in this EBF Forum on Peace,
We in the NDFP Negotiating Panel warmly greet you. We thank you for your invitation to give a presentation in this peace forum. We appreciate your commitment to strive for a just and lasting peace in our country.
May we present some basic points about our standpoint on the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.
We take a long-term view of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, consider its fundamental aspects and then look forward to what can be achieved.
By LUIS G. JALANDONI Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
The NDFP is committed to strive for a just and lasting peace in our country... On the basis of The Hague Joint Declaration and the other agreements already signed, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines is willing and ready to resume formal peace talks with the new administration of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP). We aim for peace talks that address the roots of the armed conflict through fundamental economic, social and political reforms.
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) stands firmly for the resumption of formal peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on the basis of The Hague Joint Declaration and the subsequent agreements up to Oslo I and II. The NDFP affirms that these agreements are binding and effective... In order that the formal peace talks between the GRP and the NDFP can be resumed, the GRP must comply with the agreements it has signed with the NDFP and must do away with the impediments to the peace negotiations that it has put up in violation of said agreements.
Church leaders and organizations have played different important direct and indirect roles at key moments of the peace negotiations. There is no one fixed or constant role because this is a dynamic and evolving process, depending on context and changing circumstance. What is important is the readiness to be involved in a meaningful way and being able to recognize the need of the moment and to act accordingly.
By Edre U. Olalia Legal Consultant NDFP-Nominated Section in the Joint Secretariat GRP-NDFP Joint Monitoring Committee
I have presented from my professional point of view as a student, participant and consultant of the peace negotiations the various NDFP proposals to push forward the peace negotiations. I have been authorized to attend this workshop and present the latest on the peace negotiations. The NDFP is ready to hear your comments and suggestions and to work together with you in resolving the country's economic, political, cultural and moral crisis.
What is clear is that in thinking about the issue of peace and in particular about the resumption of formal peace negotiations, Church leaders cannot help but think about the host of other problems that today confront our country. These are after all the subject of the next two topics in the substantive agenda of the negotiations: socio-economic reforms and political and constitutional reforms.
Joint Statement of Senator M.A. Madrigal and the NDFP Negotiating Panel on the GRP-NDFP Peace Negotiations
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Senator Madrigal and the NDFP Negotiating Panel pointed to the urgent necessity of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations within the framework of The Hague Joint Declaration. The peace negotiations must address the roots of the armed conflict and forge the agreements on social, economic, political and constitutional reforms in order to effect a just and lasting peace.
Peace Talks 
