Manila: The Philippine government is expected to respond positively to calls for the release of almost 500 political prisoners and for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the 46-year old Communist party of the Philippines that have been stalled for two years, sources said.

This may come to fruition after Pope Francis held a meeting with various religious leaders and accepted the letters of the political prisoners.

After the political prisoners ended their hunger strike during the departure of Pope Francis on Monday morning, Cristina Palabay, Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, a rights group, told Gulf News, “We hope that political prisoners are released. We hope that the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front [NDF], the negotiating arm of the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army or [NPA] resume formal peace talks.”

Pope Francis heard the same sentiment when he met with different religious leaders who belong to different religions at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas last Sunday, said Palabay, adding, “We hope the Philippine government will give a pivotal example by heeding the statements of the different religious leaders that reached [the ears of] Pope Francis.”

Meanwhile, Bishop Ephraim Fajutagana, chair of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) who personally handed the letters of almost 500 political detainees to Pope Francis, said, “I appealed to His Holiness to add his voice in calling both parties [the Philippine government and the NDF] to return to the negotiating table and honour previous agreements [they signed to pave the way for] attaining a just and lasting peace in our country.”

Many political prisoners were arrested even those who were peace consultants of the NDF during peace talks with the Philippine government, said Fajutagana, adding this was a violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee (it grants peace consultants immunity from arrest) which was signed by the Philippine government and the NDF in 1995.

The Philippine government and the NDF also signed the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in 1998, said Fajutagana, adding that after Congress repealed in 1990 a law that formerly criminalised membership with the CPP-NPA, leftist critics of the government have been arrested on trumped up criminal complaints, allowing them to be imprisoned without charges with criminals.

Meanwhile, Lorena Santos, secretary general of Families of Desparecidos (missing) for Justice reiterated her call for the Pope not to forget the plight of families who have never seen again their relatives who fought for the plight of the poor. “Our pain and suffering in search for our disappeared loved ones have been too long. The consequences of enforced disappearances in the communities and the society leave a deeper scar that frightens and silence anyone who thinks of voicing out for the poor,” Santos said, adding, “Our loved ones went missing because they served the poor and became their voice. That was why they were abducted.”

“The Pope can be a game changer. We are prepared to be surprised,” Edd Garcia, an activist and former member of the Constitutional Convention in 1986, told America, a paper of the Catholic Church.

Garcia said, “He [Pope] could designate a special envoy for peace to assist the official facilitators of the peace negotiations, the Royal Norwegian Government.”

Norway has been brokering the on and off peace talks between the Philippine government and the NDF that began in 1992.

The pope-assigned foreign envoy could consult with the Philippines’ Presidential Adviser of Peace Process (OPAPP) Secretary Ging Deles; founder of the CPP, Jose Maria Sison; and NDF head Luis Jalandoni, both of whom are based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, said Garcia.

Jalandoni was a former priest, and his wife, Connie Ledesma, a former nun. Sison was a former student of a Jesuit run-university before he went to the premier University of the Philippines, said Garcia.

“By insisting on peace in the main Christian nation in Asia [the Philippines] during his private talk with President Benigno Aquino, he [pope] can be a game changer,” said Garcia, adding that Aquino was a college student at the Jesuit-run Ateneo University.

Pope Francis has been credited for his role in the fruitful talks between the United States and Cuba, both alienated for more than 50 years, which resulted in the release of two Americans from Cuban prison and three Cubans from American prisons in late 2014. Fifty-three more political prisoners were released this year.

Thirty-two political prisoners began their hunger strike on January 10, while the rest began theirs during the arrival of Pope Francis on January 15.

Former president Ferdinand Marcos released political prisoners after activists held a lightning rally (about the plight of imprisoned government critics) during the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1981.

Former president Fidel Ramos released several political prisoners when they held a hunger striker during the second visit of John Paul II in 1995.