NDFP: 3 arrested NPA leaders are consultants, immune from arrests

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THE National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) negotiating panel yesterday denounced the recent arrest of its three consultants in the peace process with the government, including acting communist party chairman Wigberto Villarico.

In a statement, panel chairperson Julie De Lima said the arrests violated the 1995 Joint Agreement in Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) which provides immunity from arrest to personalities involved in peace negotiations.

Peace talks between the government and the communists were terminated under the Duterte administration. Last November, under the Marcos administration, the two sides agreed to hold exploratory talks for the possible revival of the formal peace negotiations.

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“The arbitrary detention of these consultants is yet another in a string of blatant violations by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, signed to provide both parties to the negotiations the conducive conditions to engage without the threat of arrest, killing or harassment,” said De Lima.

Villarico was arrested by government forces in Quezon City Thursday last week on charges of kidnapping with murder. He assumed the post as acting CPP chairman after the death of CPP chairman Benito Tiamzon during a military operation in Samar in August 2022.

The two other NDFP consultants, Simeon Naogsan and Porferio Tuna, were nabbed in Ilocos Norte last October 21 and Davao del Norte last October 2, respectively. The military said the two are NPA leaders wanted for murder and other criminal charges.

“The repeated arrests, torture, and killings of NDFP consultants under Marcos Jr. in the past years, despite their protected status under JASIG, represent a deliberate act of bad faith by the GRP,” said De Lima.

De Lima said these government’s actions “undermine the peace process and violate the basic principles of mutual respect and accountability.”

“These consultants have dedicated their lives to representing the Filipino people’s interests and are integral in the resumption of peace negotiations. Their unlawful arrests serve only to foster growing distrust and heightened tensions at a time when space for dialogue is critical,” said De Lima.

She said the government has disregarded its commitments to resume peace negotiations and continued to push the talks “to the brink of collapse” by repeatedly violating the JASIG.

“It is unacceptable that while the GRP claims to pursue peace, it simultaneously targets and imprisons those working to achieve it,” De Lima said as she accused the government of “deliberately creating hostile conditions to obstruct the peace negotiations.”

“With consultants and negotiators of the NDFP repeatedly subjected to arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, and torture, the GRP has made a mockery of its own supposed commitment to peace,” added De Lima.

She said these “grave human rights violations” do not only show the government’s disregard for the JASIG and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law but also the “complete lack of respect for the lives and freedoms of those working for a just resolution to the armed conflict.”

Last Friday, the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA demanded the immediate release of the 68-year-old Villarico, noting that he is protected from arrest under the JASIG, being a consultant of the NDFP in the peace process.

National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya said he finds it “funny and preposterous” from the CPP-NPA that Villarico is an NDFP consultant and therefore immune from arrest.

“The JASIG was terminated by the government in 2017.  So what immunity under the JASIG are they talking about? The Joint Oslo Communique of 2023 signed under the Marcos, Jr. administration with the NDF did not resurrect the JASIG. The JASIG is as good as dead,” Malaya has said.

Yesterday, De Lima disputed Malaya’s remarks, saying “agreements cannot be simply rescinded through a mere press conference or media statement.

“Such agreements are the product of formal negotiations and mutual commitment, rooted in both national and international legal principles, and cannot be undone unilaterally or casually. The termination of an agreement like JASIG requires formal procedures as stipulated in the document signed by both parties in 1995,” said De Lima.

De Lima said Villarico is “regularly engaged” by the NDFP negotiating as a “key representative from the Southern Tagalog region.”

“His role is crucial in representing concerns of farmers and workers in the region and in advancing the substantive items in the negotiations including in the process of drafting the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms,” added de Lima.

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