Alab Katipunan yesterday called on President Gloria Arroyo to put political will in fast-tracking the implementation of the provisions of the peace pact between government and the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa--Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade.

Seven years since the peace pact was inked on Dec. 10, 2000 at Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, insignificant commitments from the government have so far been implemented, AK secretary general Ben Solilapsi said in a press statement yesterday. The commitments stipulated in the confidence-building measures procedures of the peace agreement were not substantially implemented by the government, he said.

Solilapsi cited Article V of the peace agreement that states that the government has a commitment to implement concrete measures to address poverty in areas identified by the RPMP/RPA-ABB.

Solilapsi said P500 million was supposed to be allotted for these development projects to be consummated within three years upon signing the peace agreement but the government released only less than 10 percent of the fund.

Article IV of the Peace Agreement states that the government has a commitment for the release of 235 political prisoners, he also said. Out of the 235, 70 percent of them are still languishing in jail, Solilapsi added.

Of the released political prisoners most of them were freed not by the virtue of the peace agreement but through the effective legal defense of their lawyers, he said.

In Article III letter B of the Peace Agreement, it also states that the government has a commitment to drop all charges filed against the panelists and consultants of the RPMP/RPA-ABB but not even one case has been dropped, he said.*

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