AFP wants Joma Sison indicted for murder, terrorism

MANILA, Philippines — Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison should be charged with murder and terrorism, according to the military.

“We, together with other government agencies under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, are working for the indictment of Mr. Sison and his cohorts,”Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said yesterday.

Arevalo said the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), must be held accountable for the murder of thousands of their comrades on suspicion of being military informants or those who have expressed their desire to go back to mainstream society.  

However, he said it is up to the political leadership to decide on whether to request for Sison’s extradition.

Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año belittled  Sison’s threat of intensified attacks in response to the government’s termination of peace talks with communist rebels.

Año said the declaration is proof that Sison is “very detached” from reality and unaware of the actual situation on the ground.

“In two years time, tapos na itong CPP-NPA.... He’s very irrelevant. Better for him to come home,” Año said.

He said Sison is “dreaming” when he claimed the NPA is still a potent force when it has only 3,700 regular members nationwide.

He said the number of NPA rebels and their supporters is expected to further dwindle as the government pursues localized peace talks.

“We are putting and delivering services to their affected areas, that is the difference now,” Año said. – Emmanuel Tupas