14 more days in detention for Sison
Communist leader Jose Maria Sison will remain in detention for 14 more days, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau reported.
Sison, who is detained at the Scheveningen prison in The Hague appeared Friday before a court at the Palace of Justice which is located at the center.
The initial report by Danny Buenafe, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau chief said Sison’s lawyer relayed the information to National Democratic Front negotiating panel chief Luis Jalandoni that the decision was made after evidences were presented by the prosecution panel.
Sison’s lawyer reportedly described the decision as "ridiculous" because the evidences presented by the prosecution have already been addressed in a ruling by a July 2 ruling of the Philippines’ Supreme Court which dismissed the multiple charges against Sison.
Sison was arrested by Dutch policemen in The Netherlands for allegedly ordering the assassination of former communist leaders Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara in 2003 and 2004.
Earlier, Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau correspondent, reported that the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that it will seek that Sison be incarcerated for an additional fourteen days.
"We will ask the investigative judge to extend the custody [of Sison] for fourteen days. That’s the normal procedure under Dutch law.
And in the end of the period, a court that will consist of three judges will make a decision about further detention," spokesman Wim de Bruin said.
Sison’s allies were confident that he will be released Friday.
The Public Prosecutor also seemed confident, because de Bruin was already anticipating further interviews with Galicia.
"I think in the coming months, we will have much contact," de Bruin said.
SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=90661
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Report on Joma Sison's Arrest Aired on ABS-CBN's BANDILA
Joma lawyers tiwalang mapapalaya ang kliyente
Malaki ang paniniwala ng anim na international lawyers ni Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison na mapapalaya siya sa Biyernes matapos arestuhin ng Dutch police.
Nakatakda sa Biyernes na dinggin ng judge commissioner sa Den Hag Regional Court ang mga ebidensiya na ihaharap ng Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office.
Simula taong 2006 pa nagkalap ng ebidensya ang Dutch police sa Pilipinas dahil sa akusasyon na may kinalaman si Sison sa hiwalay na pagkakapaslang kina Romulo Kintanar at Arturo Tabara noong 2003 at 2004.
Pitong bahay at opisina, kasama kina Sison at National Democratic Front chairman Luis Jalandoni, ang sinalakay noong Martes ng Dutch police sa Utrecht, Holland.
Tinangay sa NDF office sa sentro ng Utrecht ang limang computers, diskettes, libro at mga dokumento.
Umabot sa 30 Dutch policemen kasama ang isang babaeng judge ang nagsagawa ng raid sa NDF office.
Para kay Jalandoni, walang batayan ang raid kaya malakas ang kaso ni Sison.
Maging mga abogado ni Sison, tinukoy ang Hulyo 2 ruling ng Korte Suprema sa Pilipinas na pagbabasura sa alegasyon ukol sa partisipasyon ni Sison sa Kintanar at Tabara murders.
Pero salungat naman ito sa opinyon ni Wim de Bruin, spokesman ng Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office.
Sa huling panayam kay Sison noong Hulyo 14 kay Europe News Bureau Correspondent Loui Galicia, inamin nito na may tiwala pa rin sa kanya ang progressive force sa Pilipinas.
Ayon kay Jalandoni, nakatakda ang malawakang kilos-protesta ng iba't ibang cause-oriented groups para sa pagpapalaya kay Sison.
Report from Danny Buenafe
SOURCE/ WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=90396
Malaki ang paniniwala ng anim na international lawyers ni Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison na mapapalaya siya sa Biyernes matapos arestuhin ng Dutch police.
Nakatakda sa Biyernes na dinggin ng judge commissioner sa Den Hag Regional Court ang mga ebidensiya na ihaharap ng Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office.
Simula taong 2006 pa nagkalap ng ebidensya ang Dutch police sa Pilipinas dahil sa akusasyon na may kinalaman si Sison sa hiwalay na pagkakapaslang kina Romulo Kintanar at Arturo Tabara noong 2003 at 2004.
Pitong bahay at opisina, kasama kina Sison at National Democratic Front chairman Luis Jalandoni, ang sinalakay noong Martes ng Dutch police sa Utrecht, Holland.
Tinangay sa NDF office sa sentro ng Utrecht ang limang computers, diskettes, libro at mga dokumento.
Umabot sa 30 Dutch policemen kasama ang isang babaeng judge ang nagsagawa ng raid sa NDF office.
Para kay Jalandoni, walang batayan ang raid kaya malakas ang kaso ni Sison.
Maging mga abogado ni Sison, tinukoy ang Hulyo 2 ruling ng Korte Suprema sa Pilipinas na pagbabasura sa alegasyon ukol sa partisipasyon ni Sison sa Kintanar at Tabara murders.
Pero salungat naman ito sa opinyon ni Wim de Bruin, spokesman ng Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office.
Sa huling panayam kay Sison noong Hulyo 14 kay Europe News Bureau Correspondent Loui Galicia, inamin nito na may tiwala pa rin sa kanya ang progressive force sa Pilipinas.
Ayon kay Jalandoni, nakatakda ang malawakang kilos-protesta ng iba't ibang cause-oriented groups para sa pagpapalaya kay Sison.
Report from Danny Buenafe
SOURCE/ WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=90396
Joma lawyers to use RP high court ruling in defense
Joma lawyers to use RP high court ruling in defense
Six international lawyers of arrested Philippine communist leader Jose Maria Sison believe that he will be a free man again on Friday when the Dutch court begins its proceedings on his case following his arrest Tuesday.
Luis Jalandoni, chief negotiator of the National Democratic Front (NDF), sad the lawyers will cite the July 2, 2007 ruling of the Philippine Supreme Court that cleared Sison and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo from the murder of over 60 alleged members of the New People's Army in Leyte province.
Jalandoni said the lawyers are also preparing Sison's defense against charges filed by Dutch authorities regarding the assassinations of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
The Netherlands-based Jalandoni said the documents will be presented before a court in The Hague during a scheduled hearing on Friday.
The NDF chief negotiator said Sison has an advantage on his case.Sison was arrested Tuesday by members of the International Crime Investigation Team of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department for allegedly giving orders from his residence in The Netherlands to have Tabara and Kintanar killed.
The Dutch Prosecutor’s Office is set to submit its case against Sison before the Den Hag Regional Court on Friday.
The Dutch police have been gathering evidence against Sison in the Philippines since 2006 in relation to the Kintanar and Tabara murder cases.
Seven houses and offices, including those of Sison and Jalandoni, were included in the raids that were led by 30 policemen and a female judge.
The Dutch police confiscated five computers, several diskettes, books and documents.Jalandoni said the last report he received about Sison's condition was at 9 p.m. Tuesday (3 a.m. Wednesday in Manila).
He said Sison is being held at a police detention facility near The Hague.He said Sison was made to face two preliminary hearings on his case since his detention.
He said Sison was in good condition and his wife had sent medicine and clothes for the arrested communist leader.Jalandoni earlier told ABS-CBN News that Sison’s arrest was meant to pressure the NDF to go back to the negotiating table and surrender to the Philippine government.
"These trumped up charges are a violation of Sison's rights. This is a form of pressure from the European Union, British ambassador, the US and Arroyo regimes to pressure the NDF to enter peace talks under the terms of capitulation or surrender," he told ABS-CBN.
Jalandoni said Dutch police tricked Sison into thinking that he was being invited to their station to discuss the threats on his life only to be detained. Jalandoni said he was also interrogated by the police for an hour after accompanying Sison to the police station.
He also confirmed reports that the Dutch police raided their houses and the NDF office in Utrecht.
Sison has been living in self-exile in The Netherlands since the late 1980s.
With reports from Danny Buenafe, Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
SOURCE/ WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=90389
Six international lawyers of arrested Philippine communist leader Jose Maria Sison believe that he will be a free man again on Friday when the Dutch court begins its proceedings on his case following his arrest Tuesday.
Luis Jalandoni, chief negotiator of the National Democratic Front (NDF), sad the lawyers will cite the July 2, 2007 ruling of the Philippine Supreme Court that cleared Sison and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo from the murder of over 60 alleged members of the New People's Army in Leyte province.
Jalandoni said the lawyers are also preparing Sison's defense against charges filed by Dutch authorities regarding the assassinations of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
The Netherlands-based Jalandoni said the documents will be presented before a court in The Hague during a scheduled hearing on Friday.
The NDF chief negotiator said Sison has an advantage on his case.Sison was arrested Tuesday by members of the International Crime Investigation Team of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department for allegedly giving orders from his residence in The Netherlands to have Tabara and Kintanar killed.
The Dutch Prosecutor’s Office is set to submit its case against Sison before the Den Hag Regional Court on Friday.
The Dutch police have been gathering evidence against Sison in the Philippines since 2006 in relation to the Kintanar and Tabara murder cases.
Seven houses and offices, including those of Sison and Jalandoni, were included in the raids that were led by 30 policemen and a female judge.
The Dutch police confiscated five computers, several diskettes, books and documents.Jalandoni said the last report he received about Sison's condition was at 9 p.m. Tuesday (3 a.m. Wednesday in Manila).
He said Sison is being held at a police detention facility near The Hague.He said Sison was made to face two preliminary hearings on his case since his detention.
He said Sison was in good condition and his wife had sent medicine and clothes for the arrested communist leader.Jalandoni earlier told ABS-CBN News that Sison’s arrest was meant to pressure the NDF to go back to the negotiating table and surrender to the Philippine government.
"These trumped up charges are a violation of Sison's rights. This is a form of pressure from the European Union, British ambassador, the US and Arroyo regimes to pressure the NDF to enter peace talks under the terms of capitulation or surrender," he told ABS-CBN.
Jalandoni said Dutch police tricked Sison into thinking that he was being invited to their station to discuss the threats on his life only to be detained. Jalandoni said he was also interrogated by the police for an hour after accompanying Sison to the police station.
He also confirmed reports that the Dutch police raided their houses and the NDF office in Utrecht.
Sison has been living in self-exile in The Netherlands since the late 1980s.
With reports from Danny Buenafe, Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
SOURCE/ WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=90389
Friday, August 31, 2007
Sison’s jail conditions meet intl standards – Dutch spokesman
Sison’s jail conditions meet intl standards – Dutch spokesman
By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Amid an allegation of violation of rights of a detained Philippine communist leader, the Dutch Ministry of Justice said that the Netherlands prison system meets international standards, reported ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau.
Ministry of Justice Spokesman Han Janssens reacted to the allegation of National Democratic Front negotiating panel chief Luis Jalandoni of the Dutch government’s "scandalous violation" of international laws and basic rights of Jose Maria Sison who was reportedly placed in solitary confinement days after his arrest.
"I never heard that the Dutch prison system doesn’t meet the international standards," Janssens claims in a telephone interview.
Janssens said that prisoners in the Netherlands are allowed to file complaints regarding their treatment.
"If a prisoner has complaints about his treatment, there’s this procedure where he can apply these complaints to an independent commission which is located in every prison in the Netherlands or he can get in touch with his lawyer," Janssens explained.
Jalandoni complained that Sison is not allowed visitors at the prison, barred from reading newspapers and watching TV.
More importantly, Jalandoni said that Sison is not allowed to receive his medicine.
Although Dutch government regulations do not allow Janssens to provide specific information on individual detainees, he said that prisoners in the Netherlands have the same medical rights as people outside the prison.
"Every prison in the Netherlands has a medical staff and every prisoner who enters the prison for the first time will be seen by a medical staff there and one of the questions there is do you use medicines, what kind of medicines," Janssens said.
The spokesman explained that the medical staff then gets in touch with the prisoner’s physician or family doctor in order to discuss whether these medicines are necessary and get the correct doses so that no mistakes are made.
Sison, who is detained at the Scheveningen prison in The Hague is scheduled to appear on Friday before a court at the Palace of Justice which is located at the center.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said that it will seek that Sison be incarcerated for an additional fourteen days.
"We will ask the investigative judge to extend the custody [of Sison] for fourteen days. That’s the normal procedure under Dutch law. And in the end of the period, a court that will consist of three judges will make a decision about further detention," spokesman Wim de Bruin said.
Sison’s allies are confident that he will be released Friday.
The Public Prosecutor also seemed confident, because de Bruin was already anticipating further interviews with this correspondent.
"I think in the coming months, we will have much contact," de Bruin said.
SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=90639
By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Amid an allegation of violation of rights of a detained Philippine communist leader, the Dutch Ministry of Justice said that the Netherlands prison system meets international standards, reported ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau.
Ministry of Justice Spokesman Han Janssens reacted to the allegation of National Democratic Front negotiating panel chief Luis Jalandoni of the Dutch government’s "scandalous violation" of international laws and basic rights of Jose Maria Sison who was reportedly placed in solitary confinement days after his arrest.
"I never heard that the Dutch prison system doesn’t meet the international standards," Janssens claims in a telephone interview.
Janssens said that prisoners in the Netherlands are allowed to file complaints regarding their treatment.
"If a prisoner has complaints about his treatment, there’s this procedure where he can apply these complaints to an independent commission which is located in every prison in the Netherlands or he can get in touch with his lawyer," Janssens explained.
Jalandoni complained that Sison is not allowed visitors at the prison, barred from reading newspapers and watching TV.
More importantly, Jalandoni said that Sison is not allowed to receive his medicine.
Although Dutch government regulations do not allow Janssens to provide specific information on individual detainees, he said that prisoners in the Netherlands have the same medical rights as people outside the prison.
"Every prison in the Netherlands has a medical staff and every prisoner who enters the prison for the first time will be seen by a medical staff there and one of the questions there is do you use medicines, what kind of medicines," Janssens said.
The spokesman explained that the medical staff then gets in touch with the prisoner’s physician or family doctor in order to discuss whether these medicines are necessary and get the correct doses so that no mistakes are made.
Sison, who is detained at the Scheveningen prison in The Hague is scheduled to appear on Friday before a court at the Palace of Justice which is located at the center.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said that it will seek that Sison be incarcerated for an additional fourteen days.
"We will ask the investigative judge to extend the custody [of Sison] for fourteen days. That’s the normal procedure under Dutch law. And in the end of the period, a court that will consist of three judges will make a decision about further detention," spokesman Wim de Bruin said.
Sison’s allies are confident that he will be released Friday.
The Public Prosecutor also seemed confident, because de Bruin was already anticipating further interviews with this correspondent.
"I think in the coming months, we will have much contact," de Bruin said.
SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=90639
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Dutch police: No bail for Joma
National (as of 9:35 PM)
Dutch police: No bail for Joma
By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Philippine communist leader Jose Maria Sison will not be freed on bail following his arrest in The Netherlands Tuesday, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau reported Wednesday.
Wim de Bruin, a spokesman of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, said that walking out on bail is not a possibility under Dutch laws.
“There isn’t a bail procedure. The judge will on Friday decide whether Mr. Sison will stay in custody for another fourteen days or release him. It’s one or the other,” de Bruin told ABS-CBN in a telephone interview.
De Bruin also gave further details about Sison’s arrest.
The founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines was arrested in Utrecht at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday (3:30 p.m. Manila time).
“He was invited by the Dutch police to talk about some of the cases and then he was arrested,” de Bruin said.
Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the National Democratic Front, told ABS-CBN morning program "Umagang Kay Ganda" that Sison was tricked into thinking that he was being called to report to the police station about other developments in his case.
De Bruin did not deny Jalandoni’s allegations.
“For sure it was a strategy because the police didn’t want to raid his house and arrest him there. They thought it would be more careful to invite him to the police station and arrest him there,” de Bruin said.
De Bruin said the police thought the arrest profile would be lower if Sison is invited to the station.
Sison was brought to the Scheveningen prison in The Hague.
He will be detained there until Friday prior to an initial appearance before a Dutch court.
De Bruin said he could not give a specific time for Friday’s court proceedings.
He said the judge has his own schedule for that.
De Bruin said that the Dutch police went to Manila during the investigation and interviewed several witnesses, details of which he declined to give.
He also said that it is hard to reveal the incriminating evidences leading to Sison’s arrest at present.
“The investigation started a year ago, in 2006 and in that period, about a year…more than a year, the Dutch national police gathered enough evidence to arrest Mr. Sison but the investigation is still ongoing and will take some more months and more witnesses will be interviewed by the police and also by the courts," he said.
"So overall the evidence will be presented when the court will try the case and that will take several months,” de Bruin added.
De Bruin also said that though the crimes were committed in 2003, it was only last year when the Dutch police received information about the possible involvement of Sison in the murders of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara.
De Bruin also dismissed a statement by Kintanar’s widow claiming that she filed a case against Sison.
“No, none was [filed] in The Netherlands. The Dutch police [were] in the Philippines to talk to witnesses but I can’t specify [the] witness contacted and who was not,” de Bruin said.
A Newsbreak online report (www.newsbreak.ph) said Joy, Kintanar's widow, admitted that she filed a case against Sison. "Yes, I filed a case [against Sison]," Kintanar said in a text message to Newsbreak.
“If there is enough information for serious suspicion, an investigation can start. You don’t need a person to file a complaint. But it started not with a statement of one of the relatives. It started from another information,” de Bruin said.
De Bruin declined to say at this time if the incriminating information which led Dutch police to begin the investigation came from the Philippines.
He also declined to give details regarding possible telephone intercepts or wiretaps to Sison’s house as part of the investigation.
“Too early to make information about the investigation public. They will be made public later on,” de Bruin said.
Sison is detained inside a complex of cell barracks forming a penitentiary in the seaside suburb of The Hague.
The prison was once used by the Nazis to detain Dutch resistance fighters. The complex also houses the United Nation’s International Criminal Tribunal's detention center for accused criminals being prosecuted for war crimes from the former Yugoslavia.
Sison has been living in self-exile in The Netherlands since the late 1980s.
SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=90378
Dutch police: No bail for Joma
By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Philippine communist leader Jose Maria Sison will not be freed on bail following his arrest in The Netherlands Tuesday, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau reported Wednesday.
Wim de Bruin, a spokesman of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, said that walking out on bail is not a possibility under Dutch laws.
“There isn’t a bail procedure. The judge will on Friday decide whether Mr. Sison will stay in custody for another fourteen days or release him. It’s one or the other,” de Bruin told ABS-CBN in a telephone interview.
De Bruin also gave further details about Sison’s arrest.
The founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines was arrested in Utrecht at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday (3:30 p.m. Manila time).
“He was invited by the Dutch police to talk about some of the cases and then he was arrested,” de Bruin said.
Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the National Democratic Front, told ABS-CBN morning program "Umagang Kay Ganda" that Sison was tricked into thinking that he was being called to report to the police station about other developments in his case.
De Bruin did not deny Jalandoni’s allegations.
“For sure it was a strategy because the police didn’t want to raid his house and arrest him there. They thought it would be more careful to invite him to the police station and arrest him there,” de Bruin said.
De Bruin said the police thought the arrest profile would be lower if Sison is invited to the station.
Sison was brought to the Scheveningen prison in The Hague.
He will be detained there until Friday prior to an initial appearance before a Dutch court.
De Bruin said he could not give a specific time for Friday’s court proceedings.
He said the judge has his own schedule for that.
De Bruin said that the Dutch police went to Manila during the investigation and interviewed several witnesses, details of which he declined to give.
He also said that it is hard to reveal the incriminating evidences leading to Sison’s arrest at present.
“The investigation started a year ago, in 2006 and in that period, about a year…more than a year, the Dutch national police gathered enough evidence to arrest Mr. Sison but the investigation is still ongoing and will take some more months and more witnesses will be interviewed by the police and also by the courts," he said.
"So overall the evidence will be presented when the court will try the case and that will take several months,” de Bruin added.
De Bruin also said that though the crimes were committed in 2003, it was only last year when the Dutch police received information about the possible involvement of Sison in the murders of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara.
De Bruin also dismissed a statement by Kintanar’s widow claiming that she filed a case against Sison.
“No, none was [filed] in The Netherlands. The Dutch police [were] in the Philippines to talk to witnesses but I can’t specify [the] witness contacted and who was not,” de Bruin said.
A Newsbreak online report (www.newsbreak.ph) said Joy, Kintanar's widow, admitted that she filed a case against Sison. "Yes, I filed a case [against Sison]," Kintanar said in a text message to Newsbreak.
“If there is enough information for serious suspicion, an investigation can start. You don’t need a person to file a complaint. But it started not with a statement of one of the relatives. It started from another information,” de Bruin said.
De Bruin declined to say at this time if the incriminating information which led Dutch police to begin the investigation came from the Philippines.
He also declined to give details regarding possible telephone intercepts or wiretaps to Sison’s house as part of the investigation.
“Too early to make information about the investigation public. They will be made public later on,” de Bruin said.
Sison is detained inside a complex of cell barracks forming a penitentiary in the seaside suburb of The Hague.
The prison was once used by the Nazis to detain Dutch resistance fighters. The complex also houses the United Nation’s International Criminal Tribunal's detention center for accused criminals being prosecuted for war crimes from the former Yugoslavia.
Sison has been living in self-exile in The Netherlands since the late 1980s.
SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=90378
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
My Last Interview With Joma Before His Arrest
Interview with Joma
Land reform and peace talks will resolve insurgency
By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau correspondent Loui Galicia interviewed Jose Maria Sison at the National Democratic Front international office in Utrecht on July 14 in connection with the European Union Court of First Instance's judgment ordering the EU to unfreeze the assets of Sison. Two articles from these interviews ran on this website. Galicia then conducted a second interview with Sison in an article she had planned to write in anticipation of a future crackdown by the government on CPP, NPA and the armed rebellion. President Arroyo announced on Friday a three year deadline for her administration to crush the communist insurgency, the Moro rebellion and "sheer terrorism".
Jose Maria Sison’s answer to President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo’s problem against communist insurgency in the Philippines is simply land reform, reported ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau.
"If I were President of the Philippines and there is the NPA on the other side, I will just make a genuine move towards land reform. There will be no more basis for recruiting fighters for the NPA and I think the NPA will like me if I distribute land for free. I break up the big land holdings. You know, you don’t have to be a communist or Maoist to do land reform," Sison, said in an exclusive interview before his arrest on Tuesday.
The founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines was arrested in Utrecht, Netherlands, by the Dutch police in connection with his alleged involvement in the assassinations of Romulo Kinatanar and Arturo Tabara that took place in the Philippines.
The CPP and its 7,000-strong armed wing the New People's Army has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969, in what is one of Asia's longest running communist insurgencies.
Last week, President Arroyo unveiled a plan for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to
crush the communist insurgency, the Moro rebellion and "sheer terrorism" by 2010.
Sison explained that people join the armed revolution because of their restless aspiration for improvement.
"Diyan mahina ang pag-iisip ng mga reaksyonaryo sa Pilipinas. Di sila marunong. Eh kung matutunan nila ang land reform, baka mamahalin pa sila ng NPA. First mawawalan ang NPA ng ground for recruiting dahil wala nang peasants na diskontento. May peasants who are happy with their share of the land reform. Tapos magugustuhan pa nila kung sino ang gumawa nun," Sison said.
He blames Arroyo for the surge of armed rebels.
"Pinagpapatuloy naman yung reaksyonaryong mga patakaran at maka-imperyalistang patakaran. Di ba nung bagong upo si Gloria, sinulatan ko pa. Pinagmalaki niya publicly sa Cabinet meeting. Sinulatan ko. Ine-encourage ko na tulad ng tatay niya dapat magkainteres siya sa land reform, etc. Dapat magmula noon...signal na yon na pwedeng mag-usap," Sison said.
He expounded that the rebels are not unreasonable people, if only the government will concede to a mutual understanding and agreement to solve the problems of the masses.
"Basta me national unity, common platform for broad range of political forces. Matagal ko nang sinabi to eh. Pag walang foreign aggressor na pinagkakaisahan, ang pagkakaisahan eh kung ano ang problema ng ating bayan, yun ang kalaban. Poverty, landlessness, joblessness, etc. Pwedeng pagkasunduan kung ano yung mga social, economic, political and cultural problems na pagkaisahan," Joma said.
For Sison, it doesn’t always follow that the communist rebels will always oppose the government but history has it that any new government seems to be continuing the mistakes of the previous government thereby creating mass discontent.
"’Andyan naman ang program ng CPP eh yung program for People’s Democratic Revolution. Kung yung nakaupo sa gobyerno eh interesado talaga sila, then they would know what they are up against and they know, knowing both ends, they will know how to build the post in between to make a bridge. Di naman absolute na yung line ng CPP eh laging naglulunsad ng sandatahang pakikibaka," Sison added.
He said that at present, the armed rebels are rapidly growing and their number will continue to rise because of the widespread abuse in the Philippines and the continued aggravation of the poor living conditions of the Filipinos.
As far as the state of the rebels is concerned, Sison said that it is okay and their only problem is the intensified military operations.
But then, Sison explained that the military too are not without problems.
"Their troops are not enough to cover the whole country so namimili ng mga areas kung saan sila maglulunsad ng military operations," Sison said.
Sison complains that if only Mrs. Arroyo worked on the stalled peace talks with the National Democratic Front then the problem would have long been resolved.
Peace talks between the government and the NDF, which is the umbrella organization of the underground and aboveground mainsteam communist movement in the Philippines, have bogged down since 2005 when Sison and other NDF leaders withdrew from negotiations, saying it expect the Arroyo administration to fall.
"Ano naman eh ang kilusang rebolusyonaryo pumasok na sa peace negotiations para tingnan kung ano ang mga batayan para ma-address ‘yung root problems of the armed conflict through reforms. Ang mahirap eh meron nang proseso yan pagkatapos siningitan nitong anti-terrorism campaign," Sison said.
Sison complains that the Arroyo government opted to use harsh measures or the military solution, in the name of anti-terrorism instead of continuing the peace negotiations.
"Biro mo yung panahong kong naaksaya sa pag-aatupag dito sa kaso ko eh kung naibuhos ko sa peace negotiations, eh di maganda sana ang resulta," Sison said.
Sison said that the CPP and NPA shouldn’t be feared by all.
‘"No hindi dapat katakutan yan. Maraming nare-recruit yan. As a matter of fact, isang congressman who was with De Venecia, I will not mention it, sasabihin na pinalilitaw ko siya na kontra sa gobyerno, sabi Joma wag basta-bastang magus-surrender ang NPA. Kinakailangan yan para me kinakatakutan ang mga mangungurakot," Sison said.
Sison stressed that it is those who are guilty of human rights violations who should fear the CPP and NPA.
"At the least pag me NPA, yung mga naapi at pinagsasamantalahan eh me inaasahan. Ngayon sabi ni Mao [Tse Tung], without the people’s army in the face of oppression, the people have nothing but at least they have hope and they have a chance of doing away with oppression exploitation, " Sison said.
At the end of the interview, Sison was asked about allegations hurled against him that he is directing the CPP and NPA from the Netherlands.
Sison replied, "Me trust yung mga nagdedelegate ng negotiating functions at saka pumayag na mag-advise ako. So you might say na may tiwala sila and you can express it in so many ways…. I think it can not be avoided because I was once the chairman of the CPP, I understand the program and then the other side thinks that I could facilitate agreements that's why kinakausap din naman ako."
SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
Sison Arrested by Dutch police for Kintanar, Tabara Slays
Sison arrested by Dutch police for Kintanar, Tabara slays
The Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office in Rotterdam, Netherlands confirmed the arrest of Jose Maria Sison on Tuesday morning in Utrecht where Sison is based, reported ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau.
Sison was arrested by the International Crime Investigation Team of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department to face the criminal charges for his alleged involvement in assassinations of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara that took place in Philippines.
A statement on the Web site of the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office said: "The Communist leader was suspected of giving orders, from the Netherlands, to murder his former political associates in Philippines, Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara."
Wim de Bruin, the spokesman from the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office said in a telephone interview that the arrest was done by the local police and the Interpol was not involved because Sison was suspected to have ordered the murders from the Netherlands, which is a criminal act under the Dutch law.
"We started this investigation, a year ago, in 2006 and the police have concluded so far at the moment to make the arrest," de Bruin explained.
According to the Public Prosecutor's office, except for Sison's apartment, the police also combed the apartments of Sison's co-workers, seven in Utrecht and one in Abcoude.
A source said the house of National Democratic Front (NDF) official Luis Jalandoni was raided by Dutch authorities although this has yet to be confirmed.
De Bruin confirmed that it included the NDF Panel office in Utrecht.
The Dutch spokesman also said that it was only Sison who was arrested and that no other persons were arrested in connection with the charges.
De Bruin said that Sison who is the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) will be detained in the Netherlands and will be tried by a Dutch court and will not be expelled or deported to the Philippines.
The statement said that Sison will be indicted by the Examining Judge at Court in The Hague on Friday.
Romulo Kintanar was gunned down while having lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Quezon City on January 23, 2003.
Kintanar was a former member of the Politburo, the CPP’s leading body. He was also the former chief of staff of the New People’s Army until his arrest in 1988.
Tabara was shot dead at the parking lot of SM Fairview in Quezon City in September 26, 2004. Tabara was the former head of the Visayas Commission of the CPP and also a former member of the Politburo.
Both assassinations were admitted to by the CPP and the New People’s Army.
Kintanar and Tabara were expelled from the CPP in the early ‘90s. The two were instrumental in the formation of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army – Alex Boncayao Brigade which frequently had armed encounters with the NPA.
With a report from Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=90229
The Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office in Rotterdam, Netherlands confirmed the arrest of Jose Maria Sison on Tuesday morning in Utrecht where Sison is based, reported ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau.
Sison was arrested by the International Crime Investigation Team of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department to face the criminal charges for his alleged involvement in assassinations of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara that took place in Philippines.
A statement on the Web site of the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office said: "The Communist leader was suspected of giving orders, from the Netherlands, to murder his former political associates in Philippines, Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara."
Wim de Bruin, the spokesman from the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office said in a telephone interview that the arrest was done by the local police and the Interpol was not involved because Sison was suspected to have ordered the murders from the Netherlands, which is a criminal act under the Dutch law.
"We started this investigation, a year ago, in 2006 and the police have concluded so far at the moment to make the arrest," de Bruin explained.
According to the Public Prosecutor's office, except for Sison's apartment, the police also combed the apartments of Sison's co-workers, seven in Utrecht and one in Abcoude.
A source said the house of National Democratic Front (NDF) official Luis Jalandoni was raided by Dutch authorities although this has yet to be confirmed.
De Bruin confirmed that it included the NDF Panel office in Utrecht.
The Dutch spokesman also said that it was only Sison who was arrested and that no other persons were arrested in connection with the charges.
De Bruin said that Sison who is the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) will be detained in the Netherlands and will be tried by a Dutch court and will not be expelled or deported to the Philippines.
The statement said that Sison will be indicted by the Examining Judge at Court in The Hague on Friday.
Romulo Kintanar was gunned down while having lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Quezon City on January 23, 2003.
Kintanar was a former member of the Politburo, the CPP’s leading body. He was also the former chief of staff of the New People’s Army until his arrest in 1988.
Tabara was shot dead at the parking lot of SM Fairview in Quezon City in September 26, 2004. Tabara was the former head of the Visayas Commission of the CPP and also a former member of the Politburo.
Both assassinations were admitted to by the CPP and the New People’s Army.
Kintanar and Tabara were expelled from the CPP in the early ‘90s. The two were instrumental in the formation of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army – Alex Boncayao Brigade which frequently had armed encounters with the NPA.
With a report from Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=90229
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