DAVAO CITY – Communist rebels are set to free 2 policemen they captured in southern Philippines ahead of a scheduled peace talks with the Philippe government this month.
Rubi Del Mundo, a rebel spokesman, said the National Democratic Front of the Philippines ordered Friday the release of prisoners of war Chief Inspector Arnold S. Ongachen and Police Officer 1 Michael B. Grande. Both policemen were captured by the New People’s Army rebels in separate operations in the restive region.
He said the captives would be handed over to the government as soon as Manila suspend the on-going military and police operations against rebel forces. He said the release of the two policemen is a gesture of goodwill for the formal resumption of the peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway.
“The People’s Democratic Government’s judicial proceedings and investigations into POW Ongachen and POW Grande’s possible war crimes and violation of people’s rights have been effectively suspended in deference to appeals of their families and peace advocates. POW Ongachen and POW Grande have apologized for their violations against the people,” Del Mundo said.
Del Mundo’s statement coincided with the release Friday from prison of two senior rebel leaders – Benito and Wilma Tiamzon – who are both facing a string of criminal charges. They will join more than a dozen other rebel leaders released from jails who will take part in the peace talks.
“This is definitely a positive development in the long-sought justice for these political prisoners and a welcome deviation from the previous reactionary regimes’ militarist approach and despicable contravention of the Comprehensive Agreement for Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the Joint Agreement for Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG),” he said.
Del Mundo accused the military and police of sabotaging the negotiations by filing false charges against the Tiamzon couple and the other rebel leaders.
“The AFP and the PNP continue to file trumped-up charges to ensure that political prisoners such as NDFP consultants, Red fighters, even civilians and legal activists languish in jail for common crimes they did not commit. Some (of them) were even tortured, raped or summarily executed. This is a far cry from the lenient policy of the NPA towards prisoners of war and (who) are later released in recognition of appeals of families and well-meaning parties,” he said.
He said the government should immediately release all the remaining 540 political prisoners languishing in various jails across the country.
“The NDFP expects the immediate release of the remaining 540 political prisoners in compliance of the Duterte government to the CARHRIHL and the JASIG. The success of the talks en route to a viable peace accord between the two governments in the Philippines rests in the main on GPH’s—especially the AFP, PNP and their paramilitaries’—adherence to previous agreements and the serious deliberation of the roots of the civil war. In these objectives, the NDFP and the entire revolutionary movement have been and continue to be firmly resolute,” Del Mundo said.
The NPA has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a separate Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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