MANILA, Philippines – The chief peace negotiator for communist rebels arrived in the country with his wife on Sunday, a few days after Malacañang revived safe conduct passes for leftist insurgents involved in the peace process.

National Democratic Front Chairman Luis Jalandoni and his wife, Consuelo Ledesma, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on board KLM Flight 803 at 8:45 a.m. Airport security prevented the media from interviewing them.

The couple was welcomed by human rights lawyer Edre Olalia; a brother of Ledesma and his wife; and a staff of the Joint Secretariat of the Joint Monitoring Committee of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, to which Olalia is a legal consultant for the NDF side.

Jalandoni was not on the Bureau of Immigration watch list so he was free to come and go to the Philippines, NAIA immigration chief Ferdinand Sampol told reporters.

Last week, the government renewed the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) which grants safe conduct passes to communist rebel negotiators, Presidential Peace Adviser Avelino Razon Jr. said.