Leftist consultant Baylosis 'lawfully arrested,' must stand trial: prosecutors
- by Kristina Cox
- in World Media
- — Feb 5, 2018
Police apprehended National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultant Rafael Baylosis and Roque Guillermo in Quezon City on Wednesday.
"The NDFP demands the immediate and unconditional release of NDFP Consultant Rafael Baylosis and his companion, Jun", said Jalandoni.
"The police narrative of the arrest of peace consultant Rafael Baylosis and Roque Guillermo Jr is incredibly laughable and obviously false, particularly with revisions midway", said Pastores, managing counsel at the Public Interest Law Center.
Baylosis' arrest came two months after President Rodrigo Duterte scrapped peace talks with the NDFP, the negotiating wing of the leftists movement, due to alleged ceasefire violations.
Baylosis and Guerrero were placed under the custody of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at its headquarters in Camp Crame.
"Baylosis is believed to be the acting secretary of the New People's Army", Bulalacao said, referring to the 3,000-strong guerrilla force that has waged a war in rural areas for almost 50 years. President Duterte must be held accountable for this trampling upon a valid peace agreement that assures all consultants and those participating in peace negotiations immunity from surveillance, harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation or any other similar punitive action.
Progressive lawmakers also criticized Baylosis' arrest.
Hyundai shows off redesigned, fourth-generation Santa Fe SUV ahead of debut
Previous Santa Fe designs have been fairly ordinary and uninspiring and certainly didn't stand out in the burgeoning SUV market. The new Santa Fe takes inspiration from the Hyundai Kona this time and is all aggressive this time around.
Roque said even Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) could not be used for immunity from arrest.
Peace negotiations aimed at ending nearly five decades of communist insurgency in the country stalled when Duterte accused the rebels of continuing attacks in the provinces.
"Every arrest of an [NDF] peace negotiator or a consultant makes the resumption of peace negotiations more hard and serves to further incite the armed revolution of the people", Sison said. Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate pointed out that the Philippine government's peace panel has yet to send a written and official termination of the peace talks.
Among the other NDFP consultants who were given temporary liberty were NPA secretary generals Benito and Wilma Tiamzon who were arrested in Cebu in 2014.
National labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said the arrest of Baylosis "grossly violated previous peace agreements and further blocks hopes of resuming the peace talks towards addressing the socio-economic roots of the armed conflict".
The arrests of Baylosis and Guerrero came about two months after Duterte ended talks with the communist rebels. "He has a warrant of arrest and our authorities may face dereliction of duties charges if they will not arrest him", Roque told a news briefing.
