Wednesday, February 8, 2017

NDF eyes legal action vs. military, gov't

From CNN-Philippines (Feb 8): NDF eyes legal action vs. military, gov't

 




 

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The National Democratic Front (NDF) vows to fight any move of the government against their consultants, following the order of President Rodrigo Duterte to bring back to jail at least 20 of its consultantsAside from insisting the peace talks are still ongoing, the NDF is eyeing legal actions against the police and military.

"They can take them to court...But for now we want to maintain the level of discourse so that there will be still a sliver of hope,"  NDF legal counsel Edre Olalia said on Tuesday.

NDF consultants Benito and Wilma Tiamzon are facing murder charges in a Cebu court over their supposed role in rebel purge killings in the 80s.

They were said to be the highest ranking communist leaders until their arrest in March 2014.

Tirso Alcantara is also facing several counts of murder and was detained in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig. Along with him is Alan Jazmines.

Maria Concepcion Bocala is facing charges of illegal firearms and explosives in an Iloilo City court.

Maria Loida Magpatoc is charged for robbery and homicide before a court in Davao del Sur.

They are just some of at least 20 political prisoners freed August last year to join the NDF as consultants.

This was seen as a goodwill measure of the Duterte government as peace talks resumed in Norway.

Col. Edgard Arevalo, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said, "With the termination of the peace talks, as announced by President Rodrigo Duterte, the grounds for their temporary liberty ceases to exist."

Read: Duterte orders arrest of communist rebels' consultants: Immunity, along with peace talks, terminated

More than five months later, the government now wants them back in jail.

Arevalo said, "They should immediately turn themselves in, to the court, and go back to the custody of the law, because they are serving prison terms."

Following Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana's all-out-war announcement on Tuesday, the military is also poised to step up its offensives against the New People's Army (NPA).

The AFP said the operations will be concentrated in Northeastern Mindanao, where many of the rebel camps are located.

From a peak of 25,000 in the 1980s, NPA rebels are now a force of 3,700, says the military.

'All-out war'

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Lorenzana said the government would be pursuing an "all-out war" against the NPA as Duterte considered the group as "terrorists."

President Duterte on Sunday said he now considers the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), together with its sub-groups the NPA and NDF, as a terrorist group.

Read: Gov't in 'all-out war' vs. NPA - Defense Chief

Lorenzana, however, clarified the military is only going after the NPA, the armed unit of the CPP that has waged a 48-year-old insurgency.

The communist rebels' "peace-loving supporters" will remain unharmed, Lorenzana said.

He also said the government has deployed enough troops to hunt down an estimated 5,000 NPA rebels in the country.

Lorenzana said the NPA is no different from the Abu Sayyaf group, another terrorist group the armed forces are trying to topple. Both groups abduct people and extort money, he said.

TIMELINE: Peace talks between the government and communist rebels

 
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/02/07/afp-poised-step-up-offensive-npa.html

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