NDF: Joma may be arrested on his way home

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Ma. Sison’s homecoming remains a “ticklish” issue as he may be arrested while on the way home because he has been labeled as a terrorist by the United States, a negotiator of the National Democratic Front (NDF) said.

NDF negotiator and spokesman Fidel Agcaoili said Sison’s arrest can spoil the peace talks between the incoming Duterte administration and the communists.

“You know, Joma’s (Sison’s nickname) coming home is a very ticklish issue. The US has again come up with a statement putting the CPP and the NPA (New People’s Army) in the terrorist list,” Agcaoili said in a press conference at the Ateneo de Davao on Wednesday night.  

“The US can become a spoiler through its control of the Interpol,” he added.

Agcaoili said there is no direct flight from the Netherlands to the Philippines so Sison will have a stopover in Taiwan if he flies via Royal Dutch Airlines.

“They might present a warrant against him in Taipei and everything’s kaput… that is an issue that has to be discussed seriously,” Agcaoili said.   

He said there has to be some guarantee from the Dutch and Norwegian governments as well as from Washington “to respect the sovereignty of the Filipino people in their desire to pursue just and lasting peace and allow professor Sison to come home without interference.”

Agcaoili said he is not sure whether the US would agree to such request because “it has always been a bullying agent.”

Sison, a former social science and English professor, founded the CPP on Dec. 26, 1968. 

He was jailed during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos but was freed by then president Corazon Aquino in 1986.

Sison, who has been on self-exile in the Netherlands since 1987, has said he is open to returning to the Philippines after president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, his former student, assumes office.

“There is a far greater chance than ever before for producing the comprehensive agreements at a faster rate to the mutual satisfaction of both parties and, most importantly, to the satisfaction of the people who need and demand the reforms,” he said.

Duterte has promised to provide Sison a safe conduct pass once he assumes the presidency.

Representatives of the incoming Duterte administration and NDF will meet in Oslo, Norway to tackle the agenda for the resumption of peace negotiations next month.

The Duterte administration would be represented by incoming peace adviser Jesus Dureza, labor secretary-designate Silvestre Bello III and former Pangasinan congressman Hernani Braganza.

The NDF, meanwhile, will be represented by Sison, Agcaoili, chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni, Julie de Lima-Sison, Connie Ledesma and two lawyers.

Formal negotiations between the Philippine government and the NDF collapsed in 2013 after negotiators failed to reach an agreement on jailed rebel leaders.

NDF said the rebels should be freed because the government is a signatory to the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), which prohibits the arrest and detention of peace consultants.

Government negotiators, however, rejected the demand, saying the identities of rebels who are supposedly performing duties for the NDF peace panel cannot be validated.