By RANDY FELIZ P. MALAYAO
www.nordis.net

Jose Maria Sison, founding chairperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the Chief Political Consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Peace Panel, has expressed desire to return home for consultations with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the revolutionary forces in the Philippines.

This homecoming may pose problems as the US has again put the Communist Party of the Philippines’ armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), in its list of foreign terrorist organizations. Sison would be subjected to arrest by the US government.

This threat was immediately slammed by Sison. “It is ironic that the biggest terrorist force in Philippine history and in the world today, US imperialism, is labeling revolutionary forces and leaders as terrorist,” said Sison in a recent interview by Kodao Productions.

Sison listed several possibilities how the US will spoil his homecoming. One way could be by interception while in transit or upon redirection of the plane carrying him. He may also be allowed to land in Manila without interference and eventually be subjected to “wet operations” (bloody attack) by its mercenary agents or by merely pummeling him with psywar (psychological war) to slander and discredit him or push him towards a direction against his rights and interest. Nevertheless, Sison said he is prepared to counter such possibilities.

NDFP Panel Member Fidel Agcaoili also echoed the same possibility. For Sison to return home, he would have to make stopovers in different countries where he might be vulnerable to US intervention through Interpol, Sison might be arrested in Taipei. “If the US proves to be a spoiler, through its control of Interpol, they might present a warrant to him in Taipei. Then everything is kaput. So it’s an issue that would have to be discussed seriously,” Agcaoili said in an interview in Davao City.

“There has to be some guarantees from the Dutch government, the Norwegian government, including the US government to respect the sovereignty of the Filipino people in their desire to pursue a just and lasting peace and allow Professor Sison to come home without interference,” Agcaoili said.

Surely, this recent development will dampen the high level of confidence that the incoming Duterte government and the NDFP have reached regarding the resumption of the peace talks. This would have the objective of spoiling the peace process and discrediting the Duterte government for failing to secure Sison.

Given this scenario, talks shall have to remain in Oslo in accordance with the existing agreements. Holding the formal talks either in the urban or rural areas in the Philippines might invite surprise attacks from the peace spoilers.

Sison, being the chief political consultant, must be present during the formal talks in Oslo, thus, he must enjoy the right and freedom to travel between Norway and The Netherlands where his wife Julie and two children reside as well as the right and freedom to travel to the Philippines from time to time.

On a brighter note, Jesus Dureza, incoming Presidential Peace Adviser, immediately denounced Washington’s terrorist tag. He also said the Philippines may ask the United States to remove exiled communist leader Sison from its list of terrorists to speed up the healing of old wounds due to ideological differences.

On yet another positive development, incoming GPh Panel Chair Silvestre Bebot Bello said the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) list of protected persons can be reconstituted under the Duterte administration. This is one of the contentious issues that has never been resolved during the formal peace talks between the Aquino administration and NDFP. Reconstitution was a move rejected by the government after the original list, stored in an old floppy disk, got corrupted and could no longer be retrieved. The NDFP welcomes reconstitution to ensure protection of the peace panelists, consultants, advisors, staff and security force involved in the peace talks. # nordis.net