Duterte lauds Norway’s help in peace process

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – After the release of Norwegian resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad over the weekend from the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, President Duterte has cited the important role of Norway in the Philippines’ peace efforts, particularly with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). 

Norway is the third-party facilitator of peace talks between the government and the communist movement.

“The best thing that happened this week to us was the release of Kjartan because we were able to complete our promise to Norway, which is giving us the good offices for a space to talk with the Communist Party of the Philippines,” the President said Sunday night, as he presented Sekkingstad to the media after his release from what he described as a devastating year-long ordeal with the bandits.

Norway hosted the recent resumption of formal talks between the government and the CPP-National Democratic Front in Oslo, where the parties agreed, among others, to release from prison those listed by the NDF as sick, elderly, overly long detained and women for humanitarian reasons.

Another round of negotiations is set to be held from Oct. 6 to 10 at the Holmenfjord Hotel in Oslo, according to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

In Manila, government peace panel member Hernani Braganza said the Duterte administration has set a self-imposed deadline to wrap up the peace talks within a year, so the agreement could be implemented in five years’ time, within the President’s term in office.

Braganza said a comprehensive deal on socio-economic reforms is the “heart and soul” of the Oslo peace talks, touching on contentious issues like agrarian reform, national industrialization and foreign policy.

Addressing Norwegian Ambassador Erik Forner, the President cited the assistance Norway has been extending to the Philippines in the effort to achieve peace in the country. 

“It (Norway) has provided good offices to several countries for so many conflicts and I salute your country, Mr. Ambassador, for being peaceful,” Duterte said.

“I was joking to the ambassador: you are the descendants of the Vikings, who are really fierce fighters. If there is a group there still remaining, could you just bring them here and we will let them loose somewhere in Basilan? But the Slavs are a very peaceful race now.”

MILF decommissioning

Norway is also helping the Philippines achieve peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation front (MILF).

For several years, Norway has been part of the International Monitoring Team supervising the ceasefire in Mindanao.

The Norwegian government also took an active role in contributing to the decommissioning of MILF weapons and combatants.

It deployed its arms expert, retired brigadier general Jan Erik Wilhelmsen, as vice-chair for the establishment of the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) with the MILF. 

Wilhelmsen was previously involved in peacekeeping operations in Barbados, Central Sudan, El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nigeria and the former Yugoslavia.

Other Norwegian arms experts joined the IDB headquarters, especially in the IDB-verification and monitoring assistance teams (VMAT) tasked to secure assembly and storage areas in the disarming process.

“Lasting peace is fundamental in bringing development and stability in Mindanao for the benefit of the entire population of the Philippines,” Forner said in a past statement. “Armed conflict not only takes lives; it also creates and intensifies poverty. It is our wish that the Philippines… unites to support the peaceful resolution of the armed conflict in Mindanao.”