CPP cries foul over arrest of peace consultant

The Communist Party of the Philippines cried foul over the arrest of a member of its negotiating panel in Cagayan de Oro City last weekend despite the restoration of immunity guarantees. In a statement, the CPP questioned the arrest of consultant Alfredo Mapano, 55, which happened when the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig) is supposedly in effect. "The Arroyo government and its military and police forces have to show respect for its own promises and release Mapano immediately. All the things confiscated from him must be returned, including his laptop computer. Mapano's arrest is already a big slap to the peace process and keeping him further under detention only makes a mockery of the resumption of the formal peace talks," the CPP said in an article on its Web site. A report by dzBB radio's Benjie Liwanag Jr. Tuesday said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. claimed Mapano led five New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla fronts in Mindanao. Mapano was placed under surveillance and joint police and military operatives arrested him at an apartelle in Cagayan de Oro City last Aug. 1, Burgos said. Mapano is undergoing interrogation at the Maharlika headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Cagayan de Oro. The CPP said Mapano was on his way to visit his wife and children when he was arrested. It said Mapano was also scheduled to attend consultations with other National Democratic Front consultants in preparation for the resumption of formal peace talks between the NDF and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) in Norway this month. Lifting of Jasig suspension Last month, the government announced the lifting of its unilateral suspension of the Jasig to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks. Both sides are working out details of renewed talks. The Jasig is an accord signed by both the NDF and the GRP in 1995. It guarantees peace panel members, consultants, staff and all others involved in the peace negotiations security and immunity from arrest, detention and other antagonistic military and legal actions. Formal peace talks between the NDF and the GRP were suspended in August 2004, with the NDF accusing Manila of not exerting efforts in convincing the US and its allies of removing the CPP-NPA-NDF under the list of terrorist organizations. "On the invitation of the GRP through informal talks, the NDF consented to resume the peace talks starting this month, after the Arroyo government offered to lift its suspension of the Jasig; dismantle a Malacañang office created to manufacture and slap charges against CPP, NDF leaders and even progressive leaders in the legal arena; and remove previous preconditions and obstacles it had put up, such as an indefinite, prolonged ceasefire before and during the talks," the CPP said. In June 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo directed the military and police to crush the communist insurgency by the end of her term in June 2010. - GMANews.TV