Gov’t lawyer to ask for cancellation of bail given to NDFP consultants

Solicitor General Jose Calida. TOTO LOZANO/ Presidential Photo

The government will move for the rearrest of consultants from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) following the termination of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and cancellation of the peace talks.

READ: Gov’t terminates JASIG with Reds

Solicitor General Jose Calida said the Office of the Solicitor General will file a Manifestation and Motion with the Supreme Court and the Regional Trial Courts (RTC) to recall the bail granted to 20 NDFP consultants.

He said the recommitment order are for the consultants with standing trial for various criminal cases.

Calida said the temporary release order issued by various lower courts were subject to specific conditions set by the Supreme Court including automatic cancellation of the bail once the peace negotiation is terminated.

“One of the conditions is that once their participation ceases or the peace negotiations are terminated, their respective bonds shall be deemed automatically canceled,” he stressed.

“Since President Rodrigo Duterte has already canceled the peace negotiations, the NDF consultants’ provisional liberty automatically ceased hence, they can now be arrested and recommitted to their respective detention facilities,” the top government lawyer explained.

Calida said the NDFP cannot invoke the 1995 JASIG, which provided for their immunity from arrest.

READ: NDFP to acknowledge JASIG termination; says all-out war not new

“Supreme Court decisions form part of the law of the land. Hence, the Resolution dated August 2, 2016 supersedes the defunct 1995 JASIG agreement between the parties, which has become moot and academic,” he pointed out. RAM