Friday, August 31, 2007 AFP chief predicts weaker terror force
WITH the arrest of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon believes that the communist movement in the country will weaken.
Sison was arrested in the Netherlands for double murder, in relation to the killings of former rebel leaders Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara.
Sison’s arrest will “make it clear to one and all that the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA (New People’s Army) are purging their own members,” Esperon said.
“We have been saying that and there is proof of all these accusations. Definitely when you lose your number one leader, your movement is weakened considerably. And we hope that this will be the start of the mass decline of the CPP,” he said.
Military authorities are bracing for fallout from Sison’s arrest, with the military going on red alert as supporters vowed to intensify the insurgency.
Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the communist umbrella organization National Democratic Front (NDF), in a statement issued from the Netherlands, called the arrest “a conspiracy between the Dutch and Philippine governments” to force the NDF to capitulate in stalled peace negotiations.
In a rally yesterday in Manila, activists demanded Sison’s immediate release from jail in the central Dutch city of Utrecht, chanting, “Arrest Gloria, not Joma.”
“The Arroyo government is sorely mistaken when it thinks that it can intimidate the people’s movement for national liberation and democracy,” said Carol Araullo, chairwoman of the group Bayan. “The whole world is seeing the insincerity of the Philippine Government in pursuing the peace negotiations.”
Interviewed in Cebu, Esperon said there will be no let-up against the NPA as well as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).
“They are retaliating for the arrest of somebody charged with murder? We are ready for that,” he said.
In tandem with the police, the Armed Forces will show the “unity among government troops” in warding off rebel threats, Esperon added.
Esperon also believes that Sison’s arrest will not have any effect on the peace talks. “He is not a member of the panel.
They have been saying that he is just a consultant. So what effect does it have on the peace talks? If they are really sincere about going to the peace process, then they should not make an excuse out of it,” he said.
On the all-out-war against the members of the ASG in Basilan, Esperon said they have also anticipated possible spillovers or sympathetic moves in other parts of the country.
One result he cited was the arrest in Cebu City last week of Noy Ampuan, for alleged possession of a 90mm recoilless rifle projectile and one M76 rifle grenade. He was on board a Manila-bound passenger vessel from Pollok, Maguindanao, when arrested during a stopover in Cebu City. (JST/(With AP)
