Various groups stormed the Camp General Rafael Crame in Quezon City to slam the arrest of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Rafael Baylosis and his companion Roque Guillermo. The groups also called for their immediate and unconditional release and for President Rodrigo Duterte to resume peace talks between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the NDFP.
Photos by Jade dela Cuadra and Kathy Yamzon
In a statement released by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group – National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR), Baylosis and Roque were arrested at the corner of Aurora Boulevard and Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City on the night of January 31. The agency also tagged the 69-year-old Baylosis as the ‘acting secretary of the New People’s Army’ and said that they seized two calibre-45 guns, fourteen ammunitions and two magazines, mobile phones and documents.
Baylosis and Roque are set for inquest today, according to the statement of the CIDG-NCR.
Protesting groups claim that the arrest made to Baylosis and Roque is “illegal” as the peace talks between the GPH and the NDFP remains unterminated. They also belied the claim of the CIDG-NCR that Baylosis is the acting secretary of the revolutionary armed group.
“The arrest of Baylosis and Roque only goes to show the Duterte government’s extreme fear of the growing mass movement against his tyrannical rule and continuing implementation of anti-people policies,” said Anakbayan national chairperson Vencer Crisostomo.
Crisostomo added, “As the Duterte administration remains inutile and unresponsive to the democratic demands of the Filipino people, this government resorts to intensified fascism and direct attacks against critics to their anti-poor programs.”
The groups also see the arrest of Baylosis and Roque as part of the announced crackdown of the Duterte government against the Left and progressive group which Duterte identified as ‘legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA.’
Crisostomo also said that aside from being unarmed, elderly and suffering from heart ailments, Baylosis is known to be an advocate of workers rights. He added that Baylosis is the former vice president and current adviser of the labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), and the present NDFP peace consultant on the Political and Constitutional Reforms Reciprocal Working Group.
NDFP blasts arrest of Baylosis, Roque
Meanwhile, the NDFP also aired out their strongest condemnation to the arrest of Baylosis and Roque. They said that this illegal arrest and detention ‘is a flagrant violation of President Duterte to the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) of 1995. They said that Duterte must be held accountable for this violation of trampling upon a valid peace agreement.
The JASIG was signed by both the GPH and the NDFP in 1995 that assures all consultants and those participating in peace negotiations of immunity from surveillance, harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation or any other similar punitive action.
“We call on all peace-loving people and organizations to mount a strong campaign demanding the immediate release of Rafael Baylosis and his companion,” says Luis Jalandoni, senior adviser of the NDFP negotiating panel and member of the NDFP national executive committee.
Jalandoni continued, “They should also demand that President Duterte respect and implement the JASIG, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL, 1998) and other binding peace agreements.”
“President Duterte must not be allowed to kill and destroy the peace negotiations,” ended Jalandoni.
