LUCENA CITY – Exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison claimed that the arrest of former top rebel Rodolfo Salas a week ago has further jeopardized the possible resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the communist insurgents.
“The arrest of Salas on the baseless charge against him and others, including me, shows that those military officials who oppose the GRP-NDFP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines – National Democratic Front of the Philippines) peace negotiations will do anything to discourage and prevent these,” Sison said in an online interview from his base in Utrecht in The Netherlands.
Sison, also the NDFP chief political consultant, claimed that Salas’ arrest also showed that the military and police “cannot be trusted to respect the rights of people who have a record of rebellion but have decided to live within the ruling system.”
“Salas is victimized the same way that the NDFP consultants have been arbitrarily arrested and illegally detained, with the additional use of planted firearms and ammunition,” he said.