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Thursday, August 30, 2007
RP helped in case v. Joma Sison: Palace
MANILA -- Malacañang said the Philippine Government helped the widows of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara file the double murder case against Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said in a press conference Wednesday in Malacañang that government also helped the widows transfer the case to the Dutch government upon the request of Dutch authorities.
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Gonzales said officials from the Dutch Government visited the Philippines but asked that the trip be kept a secret.
"It's just a matter of transferring documents to our embassy there," he said.
Gonzales and presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza said the government will not immediately ask for Sison's return to the Philippines but will let the Dutch authorities finish their case while Malacañang decides what to do.
"For now, it's best that we do not interfere with what the Dutch authorities will do. Otherwise we will be interfering with justice system of Netherlands," Gonzales said.
Dureza said the consensus at the Cabinet security cluster Tuesday night was to let the Dutch government deal with Sison first while the Philippine Government weighs its options.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is ready to give Sison consular and legal assistance that is due to Filipino citizens but Sison has not requested for it yet.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and police on Wednesday declared a nationwide red alert in preparation for possible retaliatory attacks in light of Sison's arrest.
AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the imposition of the highest state of alert was also related to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's departure to Malaysia this Thursday.
Esperon said the military traditionally declares a red alert whenever the President goes out of the country. The President will be in Kuala Lumpur until Friday to attend Malaysia's golden anniversary.
When asked if the military is anticipating retaliatory attacks from the NPA, Esperon said: "Not really but we have to be prepared just in case. It's better to be on the cautious side rather than be sorry later on. There is really no indication that there is going to be violence but we always have to be prepared."
Esperon said the arrest of Sison would inspire government forces to go after the insurgents. "Definitely, it will be big boost to our internal security operations, just imagine the chairman of the CPP-NPA (New People's Army) getting arrested," he said.
He also said the arrest of Sison will weaken the NPA, which is involved in the armed struggle for four decades already.
PNP Chief Oscar Calderon, for his part, said "we are prepared to guard government installations. Our police stations are on alert, on patrol at vital installations, malls, parks."
Calderon said the police also want to investigate Sison, who has a pending warrant of arrest for the killing of scores of communist guerillas and civilians in Inopacan, Leyte in the late 1980s. The remains of the victims were exhumed by the military last year.
Calderon agreed with Esperon that Sison's arrest would have an impact on the CPP and NPA.
National Capital Region Command chief Ben Dolorfino said he expects organizations affiliated with the CPP-NPA to organize rallies in the metropolis to protest the arrest of Sison.
At the House of Representatives, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Satur Ocampo accused the Dutch and Philippine governments of allegedly "conniving to harass and blackmail" Sison.
"There's a blackmail aspect in the arrest. It looks like there is an irregularity. One way of interpreting it is that Joma and the others are being harassed and pressured by both governments," said Ocampo, an ally of Sison.
He suspected that Dutch authorities are in the process of gathering evidence against Sison and National Democratic Front (NDF) official Luis Jalandoni.
On the political implications of Sison's arrest, Ocampo noted that Sison - being the chief political consultant of the NDF - has been crippled.
On reports that the wives of Kintanar and Tabara went to Utrecht to file cases against Sison, Ocampo said he has no details of it. "We don't know if the Dutch courts would recognize those cases. How can they have jurisdiction of the case when the alleged crimes purportedly transpired in the Philippines?" Ocampo asked.
"We call on the Philippine and Dutch governments to stop the crackdown and the continued political persecution of Professor Sison and the NDFP peace panel," he said.
At the Senate, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan advised the Arroyo administration not to be so quick in celebrating the arrest of Sison and the raid of the National Democratic Front's (NDF) headquarters if it is really earnest in realizing the decade-long peace process with the rebels.
He urged the government to "become more open minded" and aggressive on the issue since this decade-long conflict has used up billions of government funds that could have gone to education and other social services.
The incident, Pangilan added, could stall further the peace negotiations with the communists.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon asked the Philippine government to use diplomatic channel to analyze the issue since the arrest could affect greatly the country's stability.
The "effects of the arrest of Joma Sison on the stability of the Philippines could range from simple protest rallies in the street all the way until the NPA mounts hostile acts against the government." (JMR/VR/CPB/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (August 30, 2007 issue)
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