The National Democratic Front or NDF. EDRE OLALIA/CONTRIBUTOR
The military said that the reason soldiers arrested a National Democratic Front consultant on Monday morning in Davao City was because he was in company with a person facing murder charges.
Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs chief Col. Edgard Arevalo issued this statement to deny that the arrest was made to enforce President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to put back communist consultants in jail.
“The incident in Sarawan, Toril, was the apprehension of Rhoderick Mamuyac, a criminal wanted for murder. He has a standing warrant of arrest. It so happened that the person was travelling with a certain Mr. Ariel Arbitrario,” Arevalo said in a press briefing, quoting the statement of Task Force Haribon in Davao.
Arbitrario, a consultant for the NDF, was temporarily released on bail last August and for a six-month period to participate in the peace talks, which the President scrapped over the weekend.
The arrest came after Mr. Duterte ordered the termination of the peace negotiations and the arrest of political prisoners who were released to join the peace panel.
“It just so happened that he (Arbitrario) is in the company of one who has a standing warrant of arrest. That’s why he was also arrested,” Arevalo said.
“If we’re going to show that there are formalities that has to be observed with respect to the JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guidance), then it would have to be determined by the CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) and probably eventually by the courts,” he added.
The NDF earlier said that all of its members released last August to take part in the peace process were protected from rearrest as mandated by JASIG./ac/rga