Duterte order to re-arrest communist consultants illegal – lawyer

File photo shows Ariel Arbitrario (left) chatting with a fellow peace consultant to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, Eduardo Genelsa, at the NDFP office in Utrecht, The Netherlands.  Arbitrario was arrested at a checkpoint in Toril District, Davao City. — PHOTO BY KARLOS MANLUPIG / INQUIRER MINDANAO

MANILA — The legal consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) panel for the peace talks questioned on Tuesday, the basis for the arrest of peace consultant Ariel Arbitrario on Monday.

Edre Olalia said the re-arrest of freed political consultants based only on the mere pronouncements of President Duterte would be a violation of due process and binding agreements, particularly the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).  (The Philippine government sent notice to the NDFP on Tuesday that it was terminating JASIG, but NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said the JASIG itself entitled them to a 30-day grace period.)

“Those who arrested Arbitrario arbitrarily and illegally acted with overzealousness on the mere pronouncement of President Duterte,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “I’m sure the President is aware of the legal procedures.”

Arbitratio, along with his driver Roderick Mamuyac, was arrested at a checkpoint in Davao City on Monday by members of Task Force Davao. They are currently under custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police.

The NDFP counsel said that only courts could order the arrest of Arbitrario, which would require a new warrant and the cancellation of his bail.

Arbitrario’s cash bail is effective until Feb. 17, according to Olalia, also the president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL).

“If the apparent reason is only based on a pronouncement, then the Supreme Court must look into that,” he noted. “Why would a judge issue a commitment order based on a mere say so?”

He said NUPL members based in Mindanao have been exhausting all legal remedies to free Arbitrario, who he said was nabbed under “inconsistencies and questionable circumstances.”

“The narrative surrounding his arrest keeps on changing,” he said.

Arbitrario and other political consultants of the NDFP are covered by JASIG, an agreement between the Philippine government and NDFP, he stressed.

Signed in February 1995, it provides safety and immunity guarantees that protect rebel negotiators, consultants and others involved in the peace talks from arrest by police and the military.

Olalia noted that Arbitrario was holding his Document of Identification, signed by chief government negotiator Silvestre Bello III, when he was nabbed.

“JASIG is a solemn, binding and honorable agreement with which both parties should comply,” he said. “In fact, the government panel even reaffirmed this in the opening of peace talks in Oslo in August.”

For as long as the peace talks are not terminated, the JASIG remains in effect, according to Olalia.  “The only way to terminate the peace talks is through a written notice, which will be in effect after 30 days,” he said.

The immunity from surveillance, harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation is also perpetual whether or not the peace talks are ended.

Olalia also slammed PNP Director General Ronald Dela Rosa’s statement that the arrest warrants against the consultants were not quashed.

The PNP has released a list of 13 consultants to be rearrested, including couple Wilma and Benito Tiamzon, and Vic Ladlad. However, Ladlad has been freed, raising questions on why he would be thrown to jail once more.

“That is a legal contortion. The moment a warrant is served, it becomes extinguished,” he said.  SFM