Tiamzons, other NDF consultants back in Phl

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration confirmed that couple Benito and Wilma Tiamson – chairman and secretary general, respectively, of the Communist Party of the Philippines – and other consultants of the National Democratic Front (NDF) were not arrested when they returned to the country last Jan. 31 after attending the peace talks in Rome.

Red Mariñas, chief of the bureau’s Port Operations Division at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, said President Duterte only ordered their arrest a few days ago after the unilateral ceasefire was lifted.

The NDF said all 17 of its consultants – released from prison in August and who participated in the peace talks in Oslo, Norway and Rome, Italy – are back in the country and are “not in hiding.”

The NDF has 22 consultants to help in the talks between the government and the communist rebels to end five decades of conflict.

A day after ending the truce, Duterte also terminated the formal peace negotiations.

Duterte said he was ordering the government peace panel to “fold up the tents and come home.”

“Peace talks would remain canceled unless there is a compelling reason that will benefit the interest of the nation,” he added.

Duterte lifted the ceasefire after New People’s Army (NPA) rebels killed three soldiers and kidnapped three other troops in separate incidents.

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) yesterday demanded the immediate release from detention of NDF consultant Ariel Arbitrario and the alleged NPA liaison officer as Roderick Mamuyac.

KMU chair Elmer Labog claimed that Mamuyac and his companion Jun Sinday are legitimate labor leaders tasked to escort Arbitrario.

He said that Mamuyac and Sinday are not members of the NPA.

Col. Erwin Neri, Task Force Davao commander, said Arbitrario and Mamuyac were arrested last Monday by elements of the Army-led Task Force Davao at a checkpoint in Barangay Sirawan, Toril, Davao City.

The arrest of NDF leaders came two days after Duterte lifted the unilateral ceasefire with the communist rebels.

Neri said Arbitrario and Mamuyac were immediately turned over to the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

“The AFP claim is erroneous and fabricated,” Labog said, insisting that Mamuyac is a trade union organizer of KMU Southern Mindanao and not in any way connected with the NPA.

KMU said both Mamuyac and Sinday were tasked to accompany Arbitrario as part of the efforts of KMU to support the peace talks between the government and the NDF.

“Arbitrario’s arrest, despite the non-existence of a formal notice of termination, is a desperate attempt of the AFP to sabotage the peace talks, taking advantage of the President’s hasty retorts,” he added.

“We call on the President to get back to his senses and respect previously signed agreements such as the JASIG and Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law,” he said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) justified yesterday the arrest of NDF consultants after Duterte scrapped the peace talks.

Col. Edgard Arevalo, AFP Public Affairs Office  chief, said the negotiators enjoyed temporary liberty on account of bail granted by the courts at the behest and the intercession of the government.

He explained that the grant of temporary liberty is to enable them to freely travel in the Philippines and abroad to participate in the peace negotiations.

“With the declaration of the President terminating the peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF, it effectively informs the negotiators from both sides of the table to wind up activities and come home immediately,” Arevalo explained.

He said the NDF negotiators should surrender and abide by the conditions of the courts that granted them bail.

Continue peace talks

Three leftist Cabinet members of the Duterte administration yesterday said that the peace negotiations between the government and the NDF should continue.

“As heads of national government agencies tasked to address poverty and improve the quality of life of the Filipinos, we believe that the government should move the peace negotiations with the NDF

forward,” Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo and National Anti-Poverty Commission chair Liza Maza said in a joint statement.

“The current agenda on the table, the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER), is the most

substantive agenda in the negotiations and is key to lasting peace and long-term poverty eradication. We are one with the peace advocates, legislators and individuals who urge both parties to resume the talks. We will continue to engage within the Cabinet and the rest of the administration towards the resumption of talks and strengthening the civilian voice in the peace process,” the officials said.

They said, “After almost three decades of impasse, the peace negotiations have made historic strides on many fronts. This time, by pursuing peace, and through the political will of President Duterte, the talks have been productive.”

The government and the NDF “have never been closer in their articulation of a shared vision of a society that addresses the root causes of war – poverty and inequality,” the said.

Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao appealed to Duterte to reconsider his decision to scrap the peace talks with the NDF since the initial negotiations have attained significant progress such as the free distribution of land.

In a statement, Casilao said the preliminary meeting of the Reciprocal Working Committee on the Socio-Economic Reforms Agenda of both panels had agreed upon in principle the free distribution of land for farmers under the working draft of CASER.

“The suspension or termination of the peace talks will benefit the elite few hacienderos and compradors such as the Cojuangcos of Tarlac and Lorenzos who own Lapanday in Mindanao, and is detrimental to millions of farmers who have long been demanding genuine land reform in the country,” Casilao said.

Casilao is vice-chairman of the House committee on agrarian reform and author of House Bill No. 555 or Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill that pushes for free distribution of land to farmers.

“Peace talks between the government and NDF should address the root causes of the armed conflict and not narrow itself into signing a bilateral ceasefire agreement,” he said, as he also called for the immediate pull-out of the military from farmers’ communities across the country.

Casilao said that since the first ceasefire declaration by the President in July and through the talks in August, the AFP continued its military operations “under the guise of law enforcement and humanitarian operations, committing various forms of human rights abuses against farmers.”

Bacolod City Bishop Patricio Buzon said that the peace talks would succeed if both sides show sincerity.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s threat to wage an all-out war against the NPA would only result in more human-rights violations.

KMP secretary-general Antonio Flores pointed out that civilians would be the first casualties of this all-out war.

“Declaring an all-out war against the NPA is declaring war against the people. Every all-out war campaign and militarization plan launched by previous administrations has targeted

civilians, including activists, leaders and members of progressive

organizations and even government critics,” he added.

Breeding insurgents

Sen. Francis Escudero expressed apprehension over the government’s order to engage the NPA in an all-out war, saying that this will only breed a new generation of insurgents.

While acknowledging that it was the NPA “who cast the first stone so to speak,” Escudero said that both parties are responsible for the collapse of talks.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said that it was about time that the government declared an all-out war against the NPA.

“It’s about time. But to prove that this is not another bluster, President Duterte must immediately fire the communist officials he appointed to various high positions in government,” Trillanes said.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan urged the two sides to get back to the negotiating table soon and realize the insanity of war.

Priest-turned-rebel Frank Fernandez denounced the military “occupation” of 60 barangays in Negros during the ceasefire period.

Fernandez, in a statement issued by NDF-Negros, said the AFP, especially its Peace and Development Teams, had occupied schools, chapels, markets, houses and even basketball courts in barangays, among others, for their psy-war propaganda, intelligence and interrogation activities.

Army officials in Negros denied Fernandez’s allegations and claimed that the NPA took advantage of the ceasefire period to consolidate rebel forces and continue their recruitment activities.

Fernandez also justified the NPA attacks against AFP troops as a means to defend the rights of the people. - With Mayen Jaymalin, Michael Punongbayan, Rhodina Villanueva, Marvin Sy, Ding Cervantes, Gilbert Bayoran