NDFP wants gov’t to request removal of CPP-NPA as terrorist group

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) wants the government to remove the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), from the US terrorist listing.

 

Doing so would eliminate the possibility of CPP founder Jose Ma. "Joma" Sison getting interdicted by the US, NDFP negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said Monday.

 

“Sila (government) nagpalista e sa CPP-NPA so sila din dapat mag-request sa mga gobyernong yun na i-delist… ‘Pag na-delist yan, then there’s no more danger ng pag-uwi niya (Joma Sison) na puwede siya ma-interdict,” Fidel Agcaoili told reporters on Monday.

 

The US added the CPP-NPA in its terrorist list in 2002 upon the request of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The inclusion stalled negotiations at that time.

 

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte offered Sison, who has lived in exile in the Netherlands since 1987, safe passage back to the Philippines.

 

Likewise, the CPP founder said he is open to returning to the Philippines once Duterte, his former student, assumes office.

 

Agcaoili said the US could arrest Sison and take him to any place they want like Guantanamo.

 

Earlier, Agcaoili has called the United States a “bullying agent” and warned that Sison’s arrest could spoil the peace talks between the communists and the Duterte administration.

 

Preliminary talks between the two parties began earlier this month in Oslo, Norway. Peace negotiations are planned to resume next month after it collapsed in 2013 over disagreement on the demand to release jailed rebel leaders.

 

The NDFP argued that rebels should be freed as the government is a signatory of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees which prohibits the arrest and detention of peace consultants. 

 

Negotiators of the Philippine government, however, contended that the identities of the rebels, supposedly performing duties for the NDFP peace panel, couldn’t be validated.