Bayan Metro Manila poster demanding freedom for arrested NDFP consultant Rafael Baylosis
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines condemned the arrest Wednesday of its Rafael Baylosis and demanded his “immediate and unconditional release” as well as that of a companion seized with him.
A statement from Luis Jalandoni, NDFP national executive committee member and former chairman of its peace negotiating panel, said Baylosis, a member of the NDFP Reciprocal Working Group on Political and Constitutional Reforms, and his companion “are now illegally detained at Camp Crame in Quezon City.”
Police confirmed the arrest of Baylosis and a companion, who they named as alleged New People’s Army member Guillermo Roque, by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group along Katipunan Avenue Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities claimed two pistols were also seized from them.
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan claimed Baylosis’ arrest was “on the basis of a warrant that stemmed from false or trumped-up charges” and noted that it came after President Rodrigo Duterte terminated peace talks with the NDFP, which represents communist rebels.
Since the talks ended Duterte has issued increasingly bellicose statements, not just against the armed revolutionary movement but also what he claims are its “legal fronts.” He has also ordered the rearrest of all NDFP consultants who were earlier granted bail to participate in the talks.
Baylosis is the first to be captured.
It remained unclear what the charges against Baylosis were, although he and several other NDFP consultants, including Satur Ocampo, alleged Communist Party of the Philippines leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, and Adelberto Silva are charged with multiple murder over a mass grave of alleged rebel victims discovered in Leyte.
On January 11, a Manila trial court judge granted a motion of the Department of Justice and ordered the rearrest of the Tiamzon couple and Silva.
In his statement, Jalandoni, who remains a senior consultant of the NDFP peace panel, called the arrest of Baylosis “a flagrant violation” of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, a 1995 pact between the NDFP and government, that “assures all consultants and those participating in peace negotiations immunity from surveillance, harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation or any other similar punitive action” and said Duterte “must be held accountable for this trampling upon a valid peace agreement.”
At the same time, he said Baylosis and his companion “have the right to consult with their lawyers, be visited by their families, doctors, and friends” while in detention.
The NDFP officer also urged “all peace-loving people and organizations to mount a strong campaign demanding the immediate release of Rafael Baylosis and his companion Jun” and demand that Duterte respect all “binding peace agreements,” including the JASIG and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.”
“President Duterte must not be allowed to kill and destroy the peace negotiations,” he said.
For his part, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said: “Rather than persecute peace consultants, Duterte should resume peace talks on the most important substantive agenda.”
He stressed that Baylosis “is no criminal. Resistance to injustice and working for a just peace are not crimes.”
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