Joma defends attack on PSG

MANILA, Philippines - Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Ma. Sison defended yesterday the rebel attack last week on a convoy of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) in Arakan, North Cotabato.

“There is no ceasefire, no prior identification, no permission for the other side to be on the spot. Whether there is a ceasefire or not, there has to be some kind of clearance,” Sison, who is living in exile in the Netherlands, told ANC. 

Four PSG members were wounded while a militiaman was killed in the attack by the New People’s Army (NPA) in North Cotabato. 

President Duterte had been asking the NPA to stop attacks on government forces. The NPA responded with attacks that killed policemen in Mindanao.

Duterte has flip-flopped on the peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF), Sison said yesterday.  

He questioned the presence of the PSG convoy in the area when Duterte had no plans to visit the province.

“Why did those two vans appear in that spot? Why should they be in the area as if seeking some encounter?” Sison said. 

Sison said the two PSG vehicles had no markings indicating they were government property when they reached a checkpoint manned by the rebels in Arakan town.

“(Duterte) made up a story, it seems, he was at the checkpoint area, Arakan,” Sison said.

Sison said Duterte should have notified the communists of his plan to pass by the area.

“Duterte keeps on flipflopping. Sometimes he would say that he doesn’t like to negotiate anymore, but sometimes he puts in a qualification that if you don’t like it anymore, we will not want to do it anymore,” Sison said.?

He said Duterte’s suspension of the peace talks indicated the President’s lack of interest to negotiate.

Arrest of NDF leaders

NDF leaders earlier released from jail on provisional bail must now be arrested following President Duterte’s decision to cancel the peace talks.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said this yesterday as he supported the move of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to cancel the bail granted to 20 NDF consultants led by spouses Benito and Wilma Tiamzon.

Solicitor General Jose Calida announced last week that his office would ask the courts to cancel all bail bonds of NDF consultants, order their arrest and recommit them to their detention facilities following the recent spate of attacks by the NPA on government troops. 

It was the OSG that sought temporary liberty for the 19 jailed NDF consultants last year so they could participate in the peace negotiations.

“I agree with the OSG. Their release was temporary and preconditioned on the peace talks. If the peace talks will no longer be pursued, then they should go back to jail,” Aguirre explained.

He said the NDF leaders could not invoke the 1995 Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee, which provided for their immunity from arrest, because it was superceded by the SC ruling in August last year granting their bail. – With Edu Punay