Joma’s Euro allies rally behind Reds

Communist leader Jose Maria Sison’s European allies have rallied behind him following the recent inclusion of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which he heads, in Washington’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

They have formed the Committee to Defend Filipino Progressives in Europe to counter Washington’s moves to tighten the noose on the activities of Sison and other Filipino communist leaders living in exile in the Netherlands.

Shortly after the US branded the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), as terrorist organizations earlier this month, the Dutch government said it would freeze the CPP’s assets and those of organizations and individuals supporting it.

The CPP maintains ties with leftist organizations in western countries.

The Hague has also asked the European Union to include the CPP in its own list of terrorist organizations.

"It is not only the state authorities that are applying repressive executive agreements with the US to persecute the Filipino progressives," the Committee to Defend Filipino Progressives in Europe said in a statement.

"Reactionary Dutch politicians and publicists are also stridently claiming that 30 Filipinos in Utrecht, the Netherlands (where Sison and other leaders are living in self-exile) are terrorists are trying to incite public opinion against them."

It claimed that the government had put them under surveillance and is poised to raid their homes and offices.

It also charged that "official propaganda has already begun to drum up the freezing of bank accounts in order to conjure the illusion that Filipino communists have big bank accounts that should be frozen."

Sison’s European allies added that the Washington – with the cooperation of the Dutch government – was preparing to "grab Sison at any time" and extradite him to the US.

The Hague had in the past rejected Manila’s requests for Sison’s extradition, citing a lack of evidence proving that the CPP founder was still leading the insurgency from exile, giving orders to the NPA.

Because of the CPP’s inclusion in the US terror list, however, Sison now risks extradition if The Hague follows the US line and also considers him a terrorist.

Malacañang earlier said an alleged order by Sison to the NPA to attack US interests in the Philippines could prompt the Netherlands to extradite him either to the Philippines or the US.

In April, the NPA made a statement, believed issued by Sison, ordering the guerrillas to "inflict severe casualties on the invading US forces and to take punitive action against US economic and related interests."

Recently, Sison ordered the NPA to attack power lines in response to President Arroyo’s order to redeploy troops fighting the Abu Sayyaf in Western Mindanao – also considered a terrorist group by Washington – against the NPA.

Apparently to avoid being considered a terrorist by the Netherlands, he retracted his statement the following day and claimed that he was making a "analytical commentary" on the insurgency and not an order to attack.

Sison founded the CPP in 1969 and began one of the world’s longest-running communist insurgencies. He went into self-exile in the late 1980s after he was freed from jail by then President Corazon Aquino as a goodwill gesture toward the rebels.

Once an organization is on the US foreign terror group list, it is unlawful for US citizens to provide it with support or resources, financial help or weapons. Financial institutions are also required to block its assets.

Its members are also barred from entering the United States and can be deported.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell made the recommendation, less than a week after returning from a recent tour of Southeast Asia, which included a stop in Manila early this month to bolster support for the Philippine government’s anti-terrorism campaign.

Malacañang said the government will continue peace negotiations with the rebels despite the CPP’s terrorist tag. Officials said the US action may even force the rebels to sue for peace and speed up the talks.

The military earlier said so far it had not received any information that the communist rebels was receiving funds from foreign sources.

Eduardo Ermita, President Arroyo’s adviser on the peace talks, said Washington was aware that Manila was pursuing talks with the rebels and "they will not take issue with us," if it resumes negotiations.

The Philippines earlier this year was seen as the second front in the US-led global war on terrorism.

About 1,000 US troops left the country last month after a six-month mission to train Philippine forces fighting the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf suffered serious setbacks during the joint military exercises.

Mrs. Arroyo said the communist rebels took advantage of the military’s preoccupation with the Abu Sayyaf in recent months to step up attacks.

Defense relations between Manila and Washington improved considerably after Mrs. Arroyo became one of the first world leaders to declare support for the US-led war against terrorism in the wake of the September 11 attacks. - With reports from Artemio Dumlao