Gov’t wants Reds rearrested

Solicitor General Jose Calida. Presidential Photo

The government on Friday asked several courts to order the rearrest of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants who were previously freed to take part in the failed peace negotiations with the Duterte administration.

Solicitor General Jose Calida said lawyers from the Office of  the Solicitor General filed the petitions weeks after President Duterte declared that forging a peace deal with the communist rebels was no longer viable.

21 consultants

Calida said 21 peace consultants to the NDFP, the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, who were detained for different criminal charges were temporarily released from detention to participate in peace talks with the government in Oslo, Norway.

“Due to the eventual termination of the peace negotiations … and the cancellation of the back-channel talks in the Netherlands, the NDFP consultants who were granted conditional release should be recommitted and their respective bonds should likewise be canceled,” Calida said in a statement.

He argued that the order of the Supreme Court regarding the release of NDFP peace consultants Randall Echanis and Vicente Ladlad was only conditional.

“One of the conditions provide that once the peace negotiations are terminated, their bonds are deemed automatically canceled,” he said, adding: “Since all judicial decisions form part of the law of the land, the courts can now issue recommitment orders as these NDFP consultants are similarly situated to Echanis and Ladlad.”

Immigration watch

Earlier, the Department of Justice ordered an immigration watch against the NDFP consultants after the termination of the safe-conduct granted to them for the peace negotiations.

Among them were Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, Tirso Lagoras Alcantara, Maria Concepcion Araneta Bocala, Pedro Heyrona Codaste, Renante Macatangay Gamara, Alan Valera Jazmines, Ernesto Epino Lorenzo, Maria Loida Tuzon Magpatoc, Alfredo Amparo Mapano, Ruben Abenir Saluta and Adelberto Albayulde Silva.

Also ordered watched were Ariel Mancao Arbitrario, Renato Maranga Baleros Sr., Kennedy Lao-ing Bangibang, Rafael Baylosis, Alex and Winona Birondo and Porferio Dianco Tuna.