NDF consultants seek court nod to join peace talks

Five consultants of the National Democratic Front (NDF) have asked a Manila court to allow them to leave the country to join the negotiations with the government for the possible resumption of peace talks in the Netherlands.

Benito Tiamzon, Adelberto Silva, Rafael Baylosis, Randall Echanis and Vicente Ladlad recently filed a petition before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32 to allow them to travel abroad.

On May 28, Judge Thelma Bunyi Medina ordered government prosecutors to file their comment before submitting the motion for resolution.

National Union of People’s Lawyers secretary general Edre Olalia said the NDF consultants have to wait for the court order even as the backchannel talks in Utrecht start today.

Tiamzon and Silva also asked the court to lift the warrants issued for their arrest.

The court cancelled their bail last January after government prosecutors sought their detention due to the termination of the peace talks.

Baylosis, an alleged secretary of the New People’s Army, is being held at Camp Crame after he was nabbed for possession of illegal firearms and explosives in Quezon City on Jan. 31.

The NDF consultants are on trial for murder in connection with the discovery of a mass grave in Leyte in 2006.