AFP chief offers ailing Ka Roger safe conduct

Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes has offered to grant ailing New People's Army (NPA) spokesman Gregorio Rosal a safe conduct pass and free hospitalization.

Rosal, alias Ka Roger, was reported to be recovering from a massive stroke he suffered last year, the military has claimed.

Navy Cmdr. Anselmo Cabi-ngan of the Armed Forces' Public Affairs Service said the offer carries no conditions and that the military will even guarantee Rosal's safe return to the NPA's Melito Glor Command which he heads. The NPA unit operates in Quezon and Laguna.

"The offer was made due to humanitarian considerations and he (Rosal) can ask to be confined in any hospital which will be secured by military personnel for his safety," Cabingan said.

He said "reliable information" showed that Rosal is still in serious condition, with half of his body paralyzed, and is reportedly being given medical treatment by NPA doctors somewhere in Southern Tagalog.

The military earlier had claimed that Rosal suffered a series of heart attacks that led to a debilitating stroke in January last year.

Leaders of the National Democratic Front led by Jose Ma. Sison, in self-exile in the Netherlands, later admitted that Rosal was ailing. -