The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) demanded the immediate release of Wigberto Villarico it identified as a National Demoratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant to the peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.
In a statement Friday, October 25, CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said they condemn the arrest “in the strongest terms,” adding the incident is proof some elements in the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government want ongoing efforts to revive formal peace negotiations with the NDFP to fail.
Villarico, with companion Marjorie Lizada, was arrested in Barangay Fairview, Quezon City last Thursday for kidnapping and murder charges allegedly committed Quezon province in 2007.
The National Capital Region office of the Philippine National Police said the warrant against Villarico was originally filed in Quezon province but was later transferred to Branch 266 of the Taguig City Regional Trial Court.
The CPP however said the charges were “trumped-up,” and demanded both Villarico and Lizada are released in accordance with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) between the NDFP and the GRP.
Valbuena said Villarico’s arrest is in blatant disregard of the JASIG for which the military and police responsible must be held responsible.
The 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army claimed credit for the arrest last Thursday.
Valbuena said Villarico is a JASIG document of identification holder as a NDFP consultant who the Manila government agreed not to subject to surveillance and arrest.
“The Party demands that Villarico’s rights be respected and that he be immediately released. All trumped up charges against him must be immediately withdrawn,” Valbuena said.
“We demand that he be accorded his right to his own lawyer, and to a doctor of his choice,” Valbuena added.
Valbuena said Villarico, 68 years old, is suffering from various ailments such as spondylitis (arthritis of the spine), hypertension, heart arythmia (irregular heartbeat), asthma, prostate enlargement and others.
Alleged top CPP leader
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año congratulated the police and the military for Villarico’s arrest, alleging he is the acting CPP chairperson.
Villarico assumed leadership of the CPP after the death of Benito Tiamzon in August 22, 2022, Año said.
Earlier, both the military and the police also alleged Villarico is the secretary of the CPP’s Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee as well as a member of the CPP’s Political Bureau (Politburo).
Valbuena however refused to confirm the allegations, saying the CPP, as an underground Party, does not identify its members and officers to protect their personal security and that of the organization.
“The National Security Council can speculate all they want and claim that they have arrested the CPP Chair, which they probably did with the objective of inflating their ‘accomplishment’ and bloating their reward,” Valbuena said.
Valbuena said that as a consultant of the NDFP for peace negotiations, Villarico actively drew attention to the issues, concerns and demands of workers, peasants and minority people, students and other sectors in Southern Tagalog.
Villarico’s arrest was carried out at the height of a tropical storm which he was closely monitoring to help advise the NDFP’s forces in organizing organizing and mobilizing assistance and resources to those in need, Valbuena revealed.
Sabotaging revival of peace talks
Villarico is the third NDFP peace consultant imprisoned this month.
Fellow peace consultant Porferio Tuna was arrested in Tagum City, Davao del Norte while Simeon Naogsan of the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front was arrested in Ilocos Norte.
READ: NDFP: Arrests of Naogsan, Tuna prove GRP’s disregard of peace agreements
“Without a doubt, the successive arrests of NDFP peace consultants were carried out with the aim of derailing efforts to revive the NDFP-GRP peace negotiations, at a time that both sides are working hard to forge ahead, based on the Oslo Joint Declaration of November 2023,” Valbuena said.
“Clearly, some elements within the Marcos regime do not want these efforts to succeed,” he added.
Valbuena said Villarico, Tuna and Naogsan as well as other peace consultants of the NDFP must be immediately released in order for them to participate in efforts to revive peace negotiations. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)