Political prisoners to be freed

Tiamzons say first 50 will be women, elderly, and sick

About 50 political prisoners – mostly women, elderly, sick and long-term detainees – could be set free in the coming weeks as part of the peace negotiations between the Philippine Government (GRP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF).

This was disclosed by NDF Consultant Wilma Tiamzon to the Manila Bulletin Saturday, and confirmed by a member of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) peace team which has been in talks with the communist rebels since August.

“They are trying to release a batch of 50,” Tiamzon said. And when asked if this could happen in time for Christmas: “Masyado na matagal ’yun (That would be too late).”

According to the GRP source, “the next batch of political detainees will be released because of humanitarian reasons – many of them will be women, the sick, the elderly and those who have been detained for

more than 10 years.”

The source added that both the GRP and NDF lawyers have been “exploring all legal means to secure the release of the prisoners.”

These include allowing the prisoners to post bail, pardon from President Duterte, or withdrawal of cases filed by the government.

As it is, there are still 432 political prisoners that the NDF has reportedly asked the Duterte administration to immediately release.

“May commitment (sa releases) si President Duterte. Tapos nung First at Second Round ng peace talks, inaffirm ng GRP panel yung release of all political prisoners (President Duterte has a commitment on the releases. Then, in the First and Second Round of the peace talks, this was re-affirmed by the GRP panel),” said Benito, who was Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) Chairman until his arrest in Cebu on March 22, 2014. Wilma was then the CPP-NPA Secretary General.

Amnesty next However, Benito also made it clear that the release of the political prisoners was different from another commitment made by Duterte to grant amnesty to the communist rebels.

“That’s another commitment (by Duterte) that we are pinning our hopes on,” he said.

The Tiamzons, themselves, were in the first batch of 22 detainees ordered released by the Duterte administration.

She and her husband Benito were released from detention in Camp Crame last August 19, and went straight to Oslo, Norway, where they served as NDF consultants at the re-opening of the long-drawn negotiations between the government and communist rebels with the First Round of the talks in Oslo, Norway last August 22.

They were joined by 20 other NDF consultants, considered as the big wigs in the local insurgency that started in 1979, in the Oslo talks.

The government source said NDF lawyers “have been cooperative in understanding that (the issue of releases) is not solely within the discretion of the executive branch, as there are still pending cases in courts (against the detainees).”

“There are many legal requirements before their remaining colleagues can be released because of the different status of their cases,” he said.

But the source acknowledged that the release of all the political prisoners was just a matter of time.

“Even in the past, the NDF has been consistent in asking for the release of their colleagues from jail. So this is expected, and the GRP also committed to endorse this to President Duterte,” the source added.

The impending release of another batch of political prisoners would seem to augur well with the pace by which both sides have been trying to hammer out a final peace agreement within the first year of Duterte’s administration.

GRP Peace Panel member Hernani Braganza said both sides were contemplating on holding a supplemental meeting in Oslo “late November or first week of December” that could set the stage for the signing of a bilateral ceasefire.

The third meeting in Oslo would tackle the “need to define buffer zones, hostile acts, and monitoring mechanisms” related to the declaration of a joint ceasefire agreement.

“This was the proposal of the GRP, and based on the response of (NDF Peace Panel) Chairman (Fidel) Agcaoili, they’re open to it. This will be held outside the country, most probably in Oslo,” Braganza said.

Braganza likewise acknowledged that the release of the second batch of political prisoners would be taken as another confidence-building gesture by the NDF and could lead to the declaration of a bilateral ceasefire soon.

The signing of a joint and lasting ceasefire between the two sides could take place in the Third Round of the negotiations slated on Jan. 17, 2017, most probably in Italy.