Red leaders seek court permits to attend Netherlands talks

Five consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have asked a Manila regional trial court (RTC) to allow them to travel to the Netherlands this month ahead of the resumption of formal peace negotiations with the government.

In separate urgent motions, Benito Tiamzon, chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) when he was arrested with his wife Wilma in 2014; Adelberto Silva; Rafael Baylosis; Randall Echani; and Vicente Ladlad urged RTC Branch 32 Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina to allow them to fly to Utrecht on June 3.

The petitioners said they would participate in back-channel talks and consultations prior to the holding of fifth round of talks with the government panel.

The five, along with several other suspected communist leaders and former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, face 15 counts of murder before the court for their alleged involvement in the killing of 15 civilians whose remains were found in a mass grave in 2006 in Inopacan, Leyte province.

Comment pending

Medina has not resolved the motions, however, pending comment from state prosecutors, said Edre Olalia, the petitioners’ legal counsel and secretary of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.

The fresh round of the Norwegian-brokered peace negotiations are expected to work out a deal on a joint interim ceasefire, social and economic reforms and human rights issues.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, chair of the government peace panel, said an interim peace agreement to pave the way for the resumption of formal peace talks had been worked out by both parties in back-channel talks.

In their motions to travel, the five communist leaders argued that their participation was indispensable in the drafting of a Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms—a key point in the fifth round of talks.

Tiamzon and Silva, meanwhile, requested that the court also lift their arrest warrants issued on Jan. 11.