BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

Jalandoni expressed this view in an interview with Bulatlat a few days after the arrest of Jose Maria Sison, NDFP chief political consultant, for allegedly ordering murders from his base in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Sison’s arrest in Utrecht came just a few days after the Arroyo administration announced that it was planning to pursue localized peace talks with the revolutionaries.

Sison was “invited” by Utrecht police on Aug. 28, supposedly to talk to him about new information on a complaint he had filed back in 2001. He went to the police station with one of his lawyers, and was told to go to a room where he was supposed to be asked a few questions.

However, he was whisked off to the National Penitentiary in Scheveningen, The Hague, The Netherlands – where he is now detained – without the knowledge of the lawyer. What was supposed to be an invitation had turned out to be an arrest for allegedly ordering the killings of former Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) leaders Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

“This is a Dutch criminal case, as ordering a murder even if it is committed abroad is a criminal offense under Dutch law,” said Wim de Bruin, spokesperson of the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s office.

Sison had denied the accusation that he was behind the killings of Kintanar and Tabara. The CPP-NPA’s leadership in the Philippines had owned up to both killings, saying the two were meted out punishment for their “crimes against the revolution.”

As Sison was being arrested, the office of the NDFP International Office in Utrecht and the houses of NDFP consultants and staff in The Netherlands were being raided. The computers at the NDFP International Office were all taken.

Arroyo hailed Sison’s arrest, saying it would push the peace process forward. “It’s a giant step for peace, a victory for justice and the rule of law,” she said in a statement issued by Malacañang hours after Sison’s arrest.

The NDFP, however, warned that Sison’s arrest – together with the raids in The Netherlands – are “bound to terminate the ongoing peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Arroyo government.”

Days before Sison’s arrest, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales had announced that the Arroyo administration would soon jump-start peace talks with the CPP-NPA through its local commanders.

The idea of localized peace talks is actually not a new concoction. It had been attempted by Arroyo’s administration as early as during her continuation of deposed President Joseph Estrada’s term (2001-2004).

Before Gonzales’ announcement, Arroyo had instructed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to end the “communist insurgency,” the Moro armed struggle and “sheer terrorism” by 2010 – which is the year her term is supposed to end. “I have a specified timeline – three years – to end armed rebellion in the Philippines,” Arroyo said.

“It’s either get rid of them now, or get rid of them later,” she also said. “Whatever happens, they must be stopped.”

Sison – a former youth leader and university lecturer who is also known as the CPP’s founding chairman – is included in the U.S. Department of State’s list of “foreign terrorists.” The CPP-NPA is likewise listed as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

The Philippine government is the main U.S. ally in Southeast Asia. In 2001, the Arroyo government vowed all-out support for the Bush administration’s “borderless war on terror.”

The present Dutch government, meanwhile, is known as the one of the major U.S. allies in Europe – next only to the United Kingdom.

What does Sison’s arrest imply for the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations? Are localized peace talks really possible?

Bulatlat interviewed Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the NDFP Negotiating Panel, on these. Following is the full text of the interview:

Alexander Martin Remollino (AMR) – How is Professor Sison doing now, days after his arrest?

Luis Jalandoni (LJ) – According to his lawyer, Michel Pestman he is in good spirits. At the hearing yesterday, he was emphatic in firmly denying the false charges presented against him.

But because he is not allowed to have a radio, television or newspapers, his only contact with the outside world is his lawyer. You know that Joma is a very active and social person, so being in isolation and incommunicado is a form of torture for him. The only person allowed to see him is his lawyer. His wife, Julie, is not allowed to see him.

The prison personnel also refused to give Joma the medicines prescribed by his doctor which Julie brought for him when she tried to visit him in prison.

What they are doing to Joma is a violation of international humanitarian law.

A newspaper article was quoting a Dutch official saying that the Dutch prison meets the international standard. Perhaps the building or prison set-up meets the international standard but not the treatment of the prisoner.

AMR – What can you say about Mrs. Arroyo’s statement that Professor Sison’s arrest is a “giant step toward peace”?

LJ – Whichever way you look at it, the arrest of Joma is detrimental to and endangers the peace process. Joma is the chief political consultant of the NDFP Negotiating Panel who has contributed so much to the advancement of the peace negotiations.

You can ask the members of the GRP Panel how Joma is able to give opinions and advice that would break an impasse, or better still, pave the way to some kind of an agreement.

But perhaps Arroyo’s statement is reflective of her regime’s definition of “peace” which is the peace of the graveyard, since it is she and her government that is unleashing the extra-judicial killings, the abductions, the disappearances. “Peace” with the silencing of the progressives and other opposition. That is not peace; that is tyranny.

AMR – Is it possible to negotiate peace at the local levels, as Sec. Norberto Gonzales has announced the Arroyo regime will do?

LJ – One can almost be sure that when Gonzales proposes something, it is meant to sabotage peace. Look at his record in Mindanao with the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) and the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front).

Localized peace talks have been proposed by every regime after Marcos. Gonzales knows very well that such proposal has been rejected time and again by the NDFP both on the national and on the local levels.

As usual, Gonzales is resorting to psywar tactics to fool the public (into thinking) that the NDFP leadership has no control over its constituency.

The roots of the armed conflict are of national scope and of national importance and should be discussed on the national level by both parties to the negotiations. The NDFP has clear policies regarding this matter which have been strictly followed by all local units of the revolutionary movement.

AMR – What is the NDFP’s experience with past attempts of the Arroyo regime to pursue localized peace negotiations?

LJ – The attempts of the Arroyo regime to pursue localized peace negotiations have failed and will continue to fail because the organs of political power of the NDFP at the local levels have refused to go into any localized peace negotiations. Their reply is simple: negotiate with NDFP Negotiating Panel. It alone has the mandate from the national leadership to negotiate.

AMR – What is your view about Mrs. Arroyo’s three-year timeline to “end armed rebellion” in the Philippines?

LJ – Every regime, from Marcos to Aquino to Ramos to Estrada, and now to Arroyo, has given a timeline for destroying, quashing, ending, crushing (they have used so many verbs already) the revolutionary movement. They have failed to do so.

I remember when Enrile, then Marcos’ defense secretary, announced that he will crush the revolutionary movement by the end of 1974. Banners and painted slogans carrying “Long live the CPP, NDF and NPA!” greeted the Marcos dictatorship in January 1975.

The movement will still be here, developing, growing and gaining victories long after the demise of the Arroyo regime. The regime’s bravado is full of hot air.

As long as the problems of poverty, exploitation, injustice, oppression are not fully addressed, the people will continue with their revolutionary struggle. Bulatlat