Gov’t reviewing possible release of NDF consultants

MANILA, Philippines - The government is conducting an internal review for the possible release of alleged National Democratic Front (NDF) consultants, chief government negotiator Alexander Padilla said yesterday.

Padilla made the announcement in response to repeated demands from the NDF for the government to free prisoners it claims to be protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

Militant groups, including Karapatan, Selda, Bayan Muna, Bayan and Makabayan, held a protest outside the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) in Pasig City on Wednesday to call for the release of the NDF consultants.

The NDF has asserted that their alleged consultants are protected by JASIG, which was signed in 1995 and allows those involved in peace negotiations to freely move around without threat of being arrested.

However, Padilla said there is no way to prove if the NDF consultants are covered by the agreement since the verification mechanism has failed.

“It is only operative for those who are identified by the real names in the JASIG list and those who have been duly identified as consultants to the NDF panel,” he added.    

Representatives from both sides met in the Netherlands in July 2011 to verify whether the NDF’s detained alleged consultants were protected by JASIG.

They agreed to open a sealed envelope stored by the NDF panel in a safety deposit box kept by the parties eight years ago in a bank. But the envelope, which was supposed to hold the photos and real names of NDF consultants using aliases, did not contain actual photos but only diskettes that could not be decrypted by them.

In a previous statement, the government panel said it has released eight of the 18 NDF personalities as part of confidence-building measures.

They are Angelina Ipong, Jovencio Balweg, Maria Luisa Purcray, Edwin Brigano, Glicerio Pernia, Randy Malayao, Danilo Badayos and Jaime Soledad.

“To our disappointment, three (Pernia, Purcray and Brigano) of these NDF personalities have returned to active underground activities. With respect to the remaining 11 alleged NDF consultants, whom Mr. (Luis) Jalandoni also demands to be released, their names do not appear in the JASIG list.  Hence, they are not covered by the agreement,” the government panel said.