The peace talks is moving forward. The warmth and camaraderie of the peace teams from both sides — the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) — is as strong as ever,” said Angeles City Mayor and League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) national president Edgardo Pamintuan.
Pamintuan, who is attending the peace negotiations as adviser of the GRP Peace Panel, made this assessment after the signing of the Supplemental Guidelines of the Joint Monitoring Committee for the implementatipn of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Laws (CARHRIHL) on Jan. 21, the 3rd day of the third round of the peace talks.
“This is another breakthrough. The CARHRIHL was signed in 1998 and there is a need to update its guidelines. I view the signing as another major achievement of this ongoing 3rd round here in Rome,” Pamintuan said.
The CARHRIHL is “meant to meet the needs arising from the concrete conditions of the Filipino people concerning violations of human rights and the principles of international humanitarian law, and to find principled ways and means of rendering justice to all the victims of such violations.”
Under this agreement, both parties agreed to “uphold, protect and promote the full scope of human rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. In complying with such obligation due consideration shall be accorded to the respective political principles and circumstances of the parties.”
The contents of the Supplemental Guidelines are:
Purpose and coverage
Mandate of the JMC
Complaints
Other documents and information
Receipt and action on the complaints, documents and information
Protection of victims, witnesses, complainants and the confidentiality of information
Meetings and communications of JMC
Functions of the joint secretariat
Role of the third party facilitator
Amendments