(Worthwhile Lately) "LET'S ALL STAY THE COURSE!"

Sec. Jesus Dureza with former President Fidel V. Ramos‌. FB PHOTO OF JGD

STATEMENT OF INCOMING PEACE ADVISER JESUS G. DUREZA ON RESUMPTION OF PEACE TALKS —

"LET'S ALL STAY THE COURSE!"

OSLO, NORWAY (June 17, 2016) -- Four (4) years after its breakdown and collapse , we are now on the threshold of a resumption of the stalled peace talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF. Our yesterday's signing of the Joint Statement in Oslo, Norway will usher in the formal re-start next month of what could be another renewed effort to end conflict and bring about that long elusive but cherished peace in the land.

Our recent Oslo "encounter" was a reunion of sorts of old friends on both sides of the negotiating table but whose efforts in various times and climes in the past proved futile. Now, new sparks of the dawning Rodrigo Duterte presidency are re-igniting the peace landscape.

After our 2-day Oslo parley, there is now evident optimism and trust. There is mutual enthusiasm and hope, not only amongst us negotiators across the table, but most significantly, among us all Filipinos , in whose behalf all these efforts are being done in the first place. Yet, the road ahead to trek is not that always smooth and easy. There will expectedly be humps and bumps along the way. But there is a destination that we must all inevitably reach.

Our new President is taking the decisive lead and has shown us the way. Let us all stay the course. TNRS