Joma laughs off murder raps; police intensify manhunt for Satur

Exiled communist rebel leader Jose Maria Sison laughed off yesterday murder charges filed against him by the government, calling them "patently false."

"(The charges) amount to nothing but propaganda rubbish," he said in a statement from The Hague, Netherlands.

"I am used to charges that come and go. These are cheaply fabricated by the government. On my part, I am not at all worried by the false charges being made against me by the military and police minions of the Arroyo regime."

Meanwhile, police have intensified the manhunt for Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo who is wanted for 15 counts of murder related to the alleged New People’s Army purge in Leyte more than 20 years ago.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr., Philippine National Police spokesman, said Ocampo had failed to keep his word to surface and surrender last Sunday and yesterday.

"As a man he should honor his word," he said. "As far as the PNP is concerned, we don’t take his word, we are duty bound to conduct manhunt operations against him."

Pagdilao said he believes that Ocampo will soon be arrested to face the charges against him in court.

"At this time, you (Ocampo) may run but you can’t hide forever, the long arm of the law will soon catch up (with) him."

In Cebu City, Sen. Joker Arroyo told reporters yesterday Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran should be released from detention and the rebellion charges dismissed because the Anti-Subversion Law has already been repealed.

"Ka Bel cannot anymore be charged because (the law) has been extinguished," he said.

Arroyo said the murder charges against Ocampo and the rebellion case against Beltran have no legal basis as there is no such thing as continuing crime that spans more than two decades.

"Ka Bel should be released and the warrant of arrest against Rep. Ocampo should not be enforced," he said.

Arroyo said when President Corazon Aquino took over in 1986, she lifted the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and that President Fidel Ramos gave amnesty to leftist and rightist rebels.

"It means that two policies were made and these are very clear statements," he said. "It is very simple, there are no offenses during the martial law years because these have already been finished, and these can no longer be revived."

Arroyo said the extinguished charges covered all political prisoners who have been released, particularly during the time of Aquino and Ramos.

"They have been freed without conviction so long that they did not go against the Cory government," he said. "Satur is being pursued for certain offenses. But this was during the martial law years."

Arroyo said Ramos also signed a law sponsored by then Batangas Rep. Eduardo Ermita, which repealed the Anti-Subversion Law."Actually, it was designed to benefit the rightist rebels because it also benefited Gringo."

"If you still remember, Gringo and his group rebelled against Cory in 1989 when I was still in Malacañang (as executive secretary).

"Why are they still going after Satur when these alleged offenses happened during the martial law years? These have all been covered by the two presidential edicts (of Aquino and Ramos)."

In Northern Samar, a communist rebel leader was arrested in Catarman town on Saturday in connection with the killing of 15 of the 67 victims of an alleged NPA purge, whose remains were dug up in a mass grave in Leyte last year.

Chief Superintendent Geary Barias, Philippine National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management chief, said Noli Narca was the regional party committee official of the Communist Party of the Philippines in the Eastern Visayas. Narca is detained in Hilongos, Leyte but police would transfer him to Tacloban for security reasons, he added.

Narca was one of the 53 communist rebel leaders named in the warrant of arrest issued by Leyte Judge Ephrem Abando for the 15 counts of murder of former communist rebels.

In Makati, the Regional Trial Court allowed yesterday Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano who is facing rebellion charges, to leave for Malaysia on March 13 and stay there until March 16. – AFP, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Delon Porcalla, Jose Rodel Clapano