Sison lost grip of communist movement — Wikileaks

Self-exiled communist leader Jose Ma. Sison had lost control and influence over his group’s political arm, the Norwegian government’s peace talks facilitator told American officials in a leaked US cable released by online whistle-blower Wikileaks.

Quoting Norwegian facilitator Vegar Brynildsen, US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Leslie Basset, in a secret Feb. 4, 2010 cable, said “a failed agreement to restart formal talks between the Philippine government and the communist National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) demonstrated the ‘waning influence’ of Sison.”

Brynildsen, Basset said, was unsure who in the NDFP held ultimate policymaking authority.

In a meeting with embassy officials in Manila, Brynildsen disclosed that the NDFP leadership in the Philippines refused to abide by Sison’s commitment to formal talks.

“This development showed the Norwegians that Sison, who has been self-exiled in the Netherlands since 1987, is no longer ‘calling the shots’ for the communist side, but, rather, needs further approval from Philippine-based figures,” Basset said in the cable.

A perceived power vacuum in the communist group is likely to raise concerns about the future of the years-long negotiations between the Philippine government and the communist rebels.

Most recently, peace talks between the two sides suffered another setback after the rebel group sought for the postponement of the negotiations slated for late August to early September, government negotiators said.

“Brynildsen said he found it a ‘real challenge’ to work as facilitator not knowing the inner workings of the NDFP and who held ultimate policymaking authority on the communist side,” Basset said.

The Norwegian envoy also told embassy officials that “he was not positively impressed with the quality of Philippine government intelligence on the NDFP.”

The Maoist insurgent movement, whose membership ballooned to more than 26,000 in the mid-1980s, has dwindled to 5,000 armed members, according to military estimates.

Talks between the Philippine government and the NDFP, which negotiates on behalf of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), have been intermittent and inconclusive since they began under the government of the late Corazon Aquino in 1986.

A final peace agreement is expected to end more than 40 years of armed communist rebellion in the Philippines.

President Aquino has vowed to end the conflict with a political settlement before his term expires in 2016.

But the NDFP has accused the Aquino administration of having no interest in addressing the decades-long conflict with the communist group by maliciously not complying with the previously signed agreements.

NDFP chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni cited the Aquino government’s refusal to comply with the Oslo Joint Statements signed in January and February this year, calling for the release of all or most of the 17 individuals protected under the Joint Agreement on safety and Immunity Guarantee (Jasig).

In doing so, Jalandoni said the government is blocking the resumption of the formal talks.

Instead, the NDFP said the government, through the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), has issued several press statements denying its obligation to comply with the signed agreements.

Earlier, government chief negotiator Alex Padilla branded the Jasig as “inoperative” apparently due to loopholes found in the NDFP list.

The NDFP said the Aquino regime has practically terminated the Jasig by declaring it “inoperative,” thereby putting at risk the lives of all those protected by Jasig, including those from both sides who are publicly known to be involved in the peace negotiations, from the armed agents and/or unscrupulous elements in the government.

The NDFP stressed it is becoming clear that the Aquino government lacks the political will to continue with the peace negotiations.

“The regime does not have the integrity and word of honor to comply with signed agreements,” it noted.

In fact, Jalandoni stressed the NDFP has expressed its desire to hold another round of formal talks in Oslo from September 12 to 24 but no words from the government yet.

The NDFP is particularly calling for the immediate release of Alan Jazmines, who is tagged by the military as a member of the CPP-NPA Central Committee, and Tirso Alcantara, alias Ka Bart, who is the NPA’s top commander in Southern Luzon region.

The NDFP claimed that the two were among its consultants protected by Jasig.

But the government, particularly the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), maintained that the two are facing criminal charges before various courts.

AFP-Civil Relations Service (CRS) chief Brig. Gen. Eduardo del Rosario said the NDFP’s demand of releasing their detained comrades only shows the lack in sincerity of the communist organization in talking peace with the government. –Michaela P. del Callar and Mario J. Mallari, Daily Tribune