Bayan: Arroyo 'killed' peace talks with Joma's arrest

The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) decried on Tuesday the arrest of Jose Maria Sison by Dutch authorities over charges of “multiple murder" and “calling for more murders." Bayan said the move would further threaten the resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front (NDF). Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr said the arrest of the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippine and the raids on houses and offices of the NDF at The Hague “are gross attacks on the civil liberties on these people." “This bodes ill for the peace process. The arrest was most probably undertaken with the knowledge of the Arroyo administration out to sabotage all hopes for peace talks," Reyes said. "It is very likely that the Arroyo government has driven the last nail on the coffin of the peace talks with the NDF. The Philippine government is doing all it can to sabotage any remaining hope for the resumption of the talks. The Arroyo regime is preparing to escalate its all out war against the Filipino people," he added. Reyes said that it should be recalled that it was the Arroyo administration, through former secretary of Foreign affairs Blas Ople, who actively lobbied for the inclusion of Sison in the European Union’s terrorist list. "The Arroyo government has long sought the incarceration of Sison along with the termination of the peace process. The attacks on the NDF personnel who are part of the peace process clearly show that the Arroyo government has no intention to pursue meaningful peace negotiations," Reyes said. Dutch police reportedly took Sison, 68, into custody in The Hague. Sison, who is on self-exile in Europe since 1987, is a political consultant of the NDF. The news of Sison's arrest was relayed to his allies in Manila by the lawyer son of NDF spokesman Luis Jalandoni. President Gloria Macapagal said Sison's arrest "is a giant step toward peace," describing it as "a victory for justice and the rule of law." The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said “the arrest t of Sison is a triumph of justice." “Ironic as it is, he is assured of his day in court – a right denied to the thousands of innocent victims of communist kangaroo courts," said Lt. Col. Bartlome Bacarro, AFP spokesperson. - GMANews.TV