ARROYO REGIME IS VIOLATING THE OSLO JOINT STATEMENT

Luis T. Jalandoni
Chairperson
Negotiating Panel
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
February 17, 2004

The Macapagal-Arroyo regime is utterly treacherous for running counter to its obligations under the Oslo Joint Statement immediately after signing this solemn document. It is reprehensible for continuing to insist that the US government has the sovereign prerogative to violate the national sovereignty of the Filipino people and the territorial integrity of the Philippines by usurping jurisdiction over revolutionary entities and events in the Philippines.

The Macapagal-Arroyo regime shamelessly takes pride in being a puppet of the US. It continues to accept and applaud the baseless and malicious "terrorist" listing of the CPP, NPA and the NDFP Chief Political Consultant, Prof. Jose Maria Sison.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sent then Foreign Secretary Blas Ople on a mission to Europe to urge the European governments to put the CPP, NPA and Prof. Sison on their "terrorist" lists. The mouthpieces of the regime have repeated ad nauseam the ridiculous statement that the US is exercising its sovereign right in listing the CPP, the NPA and Prof. Sison as "terrorists".

The regime is exposing its own malice. Secretary Teresita Deles, GRP Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, stated in her arrival statement on 15 February 2004: "We continue to maintain that the inclusion of the CPP, NPA and Prof. Jose Ma. Sison in foreign terror lists were [sic] sovereign acts of these states, independent of the GRP disposition regarding these matters."

The Oslo Joint Statement declares that the GRP jointly and separately [with the NDFP] shall call upon the Government of the US, the Council of the EU and other concerned foreign states and governments (Canada and Australia) to support the efforts of the GRP and the NDFP in resolving the outstanding issue of the "terrorist" listing.

The GRP and NDFP agreed to undertake effective measures in consonance with the Hague Joint Declaration which stipulates the guiding principle of national sovereignty, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the Amado V. Hernandez doctrine on political offense.

We in the NDFP wish to warn the Macapagal-Arroyo regime that if the agreement with the GRP on the delisting of the CPP/NPA and the NDFP Chief Political Consultant would prove to be ineffective, there would be no basis for continuing the peace negotiations.

The Macapagal-Arroyo regime must not engage in deception. It must cease to insist so arrogantly that the delisting would happen only after the capitulation of the revolutionary forces. In this regard, it should not act like the yelping dog of the US. #

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