Noy open to Joma's return

CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro  ,Philippines – President Aquino is open to a possible homecoming of exiled communist leader Jose Ma. Sison especially if this would lead to a clearer understanding of the peace talks between the government and the rebels.

“Babalik si Joma Sison kung meron nang maliwanag sa usapan,” he said. “At iyung dulo po niyan, siyempre, ang ambisyon natin diyan, huwag na tayong magbakbakan na barilan; magtalakayan tayo sa debate (Joma will return if an agreement is already at hand. And of course the purpose or aim is to lay down our guns and take it to a debate).”

When asked whether this meant negotiations are going on for Sison’s return, Aquino played it safe, his reply somewhat open-ended.

“May negotiation doon sa lalagdan,” he said.

“Wala pa iyung negotiation sa pagbalik niya. (There are negotiations on what will be signed, but none yet for his return).”

Aquino, whose mother, President Corazon Aquino, was instrumental in the exile of Sison to Utrecht in 1987, said Sison’s homecoming should be significant to government efforts to facilitate the peace process and end several decades of communist rebellion.

“Ang end point nito is, iyung kung babalik siya, tungo sa ano, sa pagkakaroon nang paglagda ng isang pangmalawakang pagkakasundo, (The end point is if he will return, it will be to sign a wide ranging peace agreement),” he said.

A very reliable source told The STAR presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas already went to Utrecht twice to convince Sison to return home.

“The objective is to create more cracks in the communist movement,” the source said.

“But Joma does not want to come home. It is only Llamas who really wanted him to come back.”

The insider said Sison’s presence could create more animosities in the communist rebel movement.

“Pag nagkataon, magagalit kasi ang mag-asawang Benito at Wilma Tiamzon,” he said, referring to the Tiamzon couple who belong to the Communist Party’s central committee.

Malacañang and the CPP leadership have denied that Sison will be back in the country shortly, or that he had already come home a few weeks ago.

Separate military sources said left-leaning Cabinet members may have been won over Aquino in the guise of running after former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The CPP branded these as “baseless and ridiculous.”

In a statement published on its official website “The Philippine Revolution,” the CPP also denied any truth to information that they are negotiating for the integration of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels into the military.