“For the people, the most significant things that President Rodrigo Duterte has done during his first 100 days are the immediate resumption of the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and his pronouncement for an independent foreign policy,” said Raymond Palatino, Chairperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Metro Manila.
The 1st round of the GRP-NDFP peace talks resumed on August 24 to 27 and the 2nd round on October 6 to 9 in Oslo, Norway. Even before the Duterte administration formally assumed office, preliminary talks were held on June 14 to 15 in Oslo.
The resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace talks paved the way for the release of 22 political prisoners who are mostly NDFP consultants. This is the most number of released political prisoners since the President Fidel Ramos administration.
It also brought to the spotlight the need to advance social and economic reforms to address the root cause of armed conflict in the country.
Despite President Duterte’s ‘colorful’ language, his anti-U.S. domination statements and pronouncements for an independent foreign policy is unprecedented from any Philippine president.
Peace campaign
“Napakagandang pagkakataon para imulat ang mga estudyante sa kahalagahan ng kapayapaaan. Walang pagkatuto ang mga mag-aaral kung walang kapayapaan sa mga paaralan,” said Ma. Ellen De Leon, a faculty member at the Villegas High School.
Shortly after the start of the resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace talks, series of forums were held in different schools and communities to discuss the prospects of peace and proposed socio-economic reforms through the talks.
In support of the talks, the Department of Education (DepEd) Manila Division issued a memo on September 2 to all high schools under its division endorsing the holding of peace forums, following the peace resolution passed by the Manila City Council a month before.
NDFP consultants were invited to talk on the updates of the peace talks. The forums were well attended by students, faculty and administrators.
“Sa forum namin nalaman kung ano ang magagawa ng peace talks, sinu-sino ang involved at dapat pala makibahagi ang mamamayan, lalo na ang kabataan, para itulak ang kapayapaan,” said Paula Angela Ilag, a Grade 10 student from V. Mapa High School.
Kim Vega, Supreme Student Government President of Jose Abad Santos High School, expressed their wholehearted support to the GRP-NDFP peace talks in her speech during an ecumenical prayer for peace on October 7 at the Kartilya ng Katipunan Shrine in Manila.
The gathering dubbed as ‘Martsa sa Isang Daan Tungo sa Tunay at Makabuluhang Pagbabag’ at the Kartilya ng Katipunan Shrine in Manila was held to mark the 100 days of the Duterte administration where high school students and their teachers, barangay officials, church people, and members of progressive organizations attended. The group later marched to Mendiola bridge to air the issues of different sectors of Metro Manila that still need to be addressed.
Independent foreign policy
“Ang kanyang (Duterte) polisiya na ipaglaban ang mga makabayang interes ng Pilipinas sa usapin ng foreign policy, suportado ‘yan ng mamamayang Pilipino (His policy [Duterte] to fight for the national interest of the Philippines with regards to foreign policy is supported by the Filipino people),” said Palatino.
Duterte started declaring strong statements against the U.S. in a press conference before leaving for the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) summit in Laos early September. (Read Groups laud Duterte’s plan for independent foreign policy)
During the President’s September 28 speech in front of the Filipino community in Hanoi, Vietnam, the President declared that the joint military exercise with the US would be the last this year.
In an AP report, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana reportedly said that the Philippine government has formally informed the US government and military about ending joint sea patrols and military exercises.
“We welcome how GRP President Duterte is walking his talk of an independent foreign policy,” said the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in its October 9 statement.
However, in a speech in Mendiola, Lloyd Magsoy, Chairperson of Anakbayan Metro Manila, stressed that the President should terminate existing agreements.
“Duterte’s statements is a good thing for the Filipino people but this is not enough as long as agreements like the Mutual Logistics Agreement, Visiting Forces Agreement and Enchanced Defense Cooperation Agreement is still there, these are manifestations that the US still controls the Philippines,” said Lloyd Magsoy, Chairperson of Anakbyan Metro Manila, in his speech in Mendiola.
