NDF pushes Arroyo prosecution as 'sweetener' for peace talks

The National Democratic Front (NDF) is pushing the prosecution of outgoing President and incoming Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for human rights violations and plunder in the first 100 days of the incoming Aquino administration as a sweetener in the resumption of peace talks. In a statement, NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni said the Filipino people want president-apparent Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III to fulfill his promise to investigate Mrs. Arroyo and prosecute her if necessary. "Holding Mrs. Arroyo accountable in response to the demands of Filipino people and the victims and their families will significantly help to improve the atmosphere for the resumption of formal peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)," he said in a statement on the Communist Party of the Philippines website. "The failure of Aquino to fulfill his promise within the first 100 days of his rule will outrage the people...," he added. Jalandoni noted Aquino sought votes by pledging to investigate and prosecute Mrs. Arroyo and her "cohorts" for supposed crimes that they have committed under the outgoing administration. The people, he added, expect action and not just mere rhetoric from Aquino. He added the NDF is ready to resume formal peace talks with the incoming administration based on The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) of 1995 and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), among others. "We are committed to address the roots of the armed conflict through fundamental economic, social and political reforms," he said. He said the Arroyo regime must be held responsible for more than a thousand extrajudicial killings, more than 200 enforced disappearances, hundreds more of frustrated killings, thousands of cases of torture, the displacement of millions of civilians in the rural and urban areas. This will be an important signal of the new administration's commitment to implement the CARHRIHL, he added. "Firmly taking up the crimes of plunder and corruption of Mrs. Arroyo and her cohorts will entail the exposure of the basic causes of social injustice and mal-development, and will thus be of great benefit to the negotiations on social and economic reforms, which is the second substantive topic in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations as defined by The Hague Joint Declaration," he said. Arroyo arrest, prosecution Christian leaders working for social justice also want the next Philippine president to arrest and prosecute Mrs. Arroyo. “We are asking the new president to tell the Ombudsman to file the cases that we have already prepared for impeachment complaints and left with the Ombudsman since 2005," said Father Jose Dizon, in an article on the Union of Catholic Asian News site. “We feel it is important to prosecute her because we Filipinos need to learn a lesson," Dizon added, citing the failure of cases against ousted presidents Joseph Estrada and Ferdinand Marcos. Ecumenical group Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) added it wants Mrs. Arroyo jailed if the proof against her is sufficient. Mrs. Arroyo loses her immunity from prosecution when she steps down as president on June 30. “We want her to be arrested and if the proof of the cases that are already prepared are sufficient, then she should be put in jail," it said. “Long standing issues of genuine land reform, just wages, human rights, unjust taxation, high prices of basic commodities, graft and corruption, and independent foreign policies are the urgent national concerns that must be addressed by the coming administration," PCPR secretary general Nardy Sabino said. — LBG, GMANews.TV