THE Armed Forces yesterday said it is locating the 21 consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, who were freed by the Duterte administration so they can participate in peace negotiations between government and the communist group.
President Duterte formally terminated the peace negotiations last week because of what he said was the communists’ lack of sincerity and commitment to the peace process. Following the termination, he asked the consultants to surrender or “face punitive actions.” Duterte said the consultants should “go back to where you belong,” referring to jail.
AFP public affairs chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said the military has yet to get specific orders from higher authorities to arrest the consultants but is now determining their whereabouts in preparation for the arrest.
Among the consultants are Benito Tiamzon, chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and his wife, CPP secretary general Wilma Austria.
Tiamzon and Austria were arrested by military intelligence operatives in 2014 in Cebu for various crimes. The two and 19 other NDF consultants were freed last year so they can participate in the peace talks.
“As of now, we have no information on their location but we are awaiting specific guidance if we should arrest them, based on order from our courts,” Arevalo told a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.
Arevalo said Proclamation 360 on the termination of the talks should be “enough signal for them (communists) to take heed or take cue that the formal talks are already over.”
“We are going to await further instruction about this (arrest of the consultants) but we are already monitoring them,” said Arevalo.
“Monitoring is different from arrest. We have to monitor them so that we’re already aware of their whereabouts when there is already an instruction, specific order to arrest them. We have to be proactive in our actions,” said Arevalo.
Asked if the Tiamzons and the other NDF consultants are in the country, Arevalo said: “I cannot answer that question right now but what I am sure about is we have efforts to locate them.”
Four rounds of formal talks were held in Norway and Rome. A fifth round was supposed to be held also in Norway before Duterte suspended the talks in July because of, among others, continued attacks by the New People’s Army, the CPP’s armed wing, on government forces.
The military has stepped up its campaign against the NPA which Duterte is planning to declare a terrorist organization.
FOCUS
Arevalo said the military would take more actions against the NPA, similar to that in Nasugbu, Batangas last Tuesday, where 14 NPA members were killed in clashes with government forces.
The Nasugbu incident is the biggest feat so far since President Duterte issued Proclamation 360 on Thursday last week.
“We are going to be relentless in our intensified campaign against the terrorist New People’s Army, especially so that our combat operations in Marawi are now over,” Arevalo said.
He was referring to the attack by the Maute Group in Marawi City. The conflict that started on May 23 lasted five months.
SISON’S PROPAGANDA
Brig. Gen. Marcelo Burgos, commander of the Army’s 202nd Brigade, accused communist party founder Jose Maria Sison of resorting to propaganda and mis-information to undermine the military success in Nasugbu.
The Netherlands-based Sison earlier insinuated that those killed in the fighting were civilians and not NPA members.
Burgos said Sison’s statement is aimed at “salvaging their eroding mass base support and projecting relevance in the region.”
Burgos maintained that the fatalities, including UP student Josephine Anne Lapira, are all NPA members. Four other female rebels died in the fighting.
“They are all armed. They are all NPAs. And they are there to conduct tactical offensive. They’re wearing bandoliers and they have arms. How can you explain the number of firearms they were carrying?” said Burgos.
Burgos said the rebels were planning to attack a police detachment in Nasugbu.
Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno acknowledged that Lapira is a UP student but stressed she is an NPA member. “Her status in the NPA is full-timer, meaning that she is really an NPA (rebel),” said Parayno.
http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/afp-locating-communist-consultants
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