MANILA, Philippines — Six consultants to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have been arrested since President Duterte signed Proclamation No. 360 in November 2017 terminating peace talks with the communist-led NDFP.
Francisco “Frank” Fernandez, 71, spokesperson for the NDFP in Negros and part of the 23-member NDFP peace panel, was arrested with his wife, Cleofe Lagtapon, 66, on Sunday in Liliw, Laguna province. Lagtapon was said to have served as NDFP deputy secretary for communications and education in Negros, Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor.
On March 20, Renante Gamara, 61, and retired priest Arturo Joseph Balagat, 72, were arrested in Balagat’s house in Imus City, Cavite province. Both were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Gamara, a former labor union and urban poor organizer, was part of the NDFP political and constitutional reforms committee during the talks.
In 2018, four NDFP advisers were arrested.
Rey Casambre, 67, and his wife, Patricia Cora, 72, were arrested in Bacoor, Cavite, on Dec. 7, 2018, while in their car on the basis of a warrant for murder and attempted murder issued by a Regional Trial Court in Lupon, Davao Oriental province.
Casambre is also the executive director of the private Philippine Peace Center, and his wife is a translator for the group.
On Nov. 8, 2018, Vicente Ladlad was arrested on illegal firearms charges in a midnight raid on a house in Novaliches, Quezon City. Police and military operatives said they seized from Ladlad and an elderly couple, Alberto and Virginia Villamor, “high-powered firearms, ammunition, grenades and several subversive documents.”
On Oct. 15, 2018, Adelberto Silva, 71, was arrested with four others in Santa Cruz, Laguna, by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
On Jan. 31, 2018, Rafael Baylosis and his companion, Roque Guillermo Jr., were arrested while waiting for a ride in Quezon City. They allegedly had two .45-caliber pistols tucked in their waists and a grenade in a bag of red rice.
A year later, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 100 dismissed the charges against Baylosis and Guillermo, saying their arrest was illegal with the state “failing to meet its burden of proving their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.” —Inquirer Research