Full Text of Interview with Prof. Jose Maria Sison
By Imelda Abano
Senior Correspondent
Business Mirror
Good day! I was assigned by my editor to follow-up updates from your end about some issues. I hope you answer briefly my queries please.
1. Are you going back to the Philippines? When and what will make you decide to come home? You told me before that you are indeed going back because you wanted to retire in your home country.
ANSWER: I have no immediate plans of returning to the Philippines. I must stay abroad because of my role as chief political consultant of the NDFP in peace negotiations with the Manila government. I will certainly go home if and when the peace negotiations are successful or the revolutionary forces shall have won victory by overthrowing the ruling system.
2. Are you indeed running for an elective position in 2013? What position?
ANSWER: No, I am not running for any position in the reactionary elections of 2013. It was only Noynoy who floated that recently in an interview in Calapan.
3. What is your assessment for now on the Aquino administration regarding how he runs the government? And how peace negotiations are progressing now?
ANSWER: The policies and ruling style of the Aquino regime are fundamentally similar to those of the Arroyo regime. The Philippine Development Plan of Aquino is actually aimed at perpetuating underdevelopment and poverty. It allows the US and other multinational banks and firms and the local exploiting classes of big compradors and landlords to exploit the people and plunder the natural resources of the country.
Like the Arroyo regime, the Aquino regime is corrupt. The infrastructure projects and all kinds of business privileges, including jueteng, are being cornered by Aquino, his relatives and friends. Aquino has failed to run after Arroyo for plunder and human rights violations. Instead, the Aquino regime is now reeking with its own corruption and human rights violations.
The Aquino regime is still blocking the resumption of formal peace talks because it continues to imprison more than 350 political prisoners in violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the Hernandez political offense doctrine. In contrast, he released more than 400 military prisoners soon after he came to power.
In violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), the Aquino regime has failed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the murder, torture and illegal detention of NDFP consultants and staffers who are entitled to JASIG protection. Irefer to the cases of Sotero Llamas, Leo Velasco, Prudencio Calubid and others. Until now, the Aquino regime also refuses to release all the JASIG-protected prisoners.
The Norwegian government and the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform(PEPP) are working hard to help pave the way for the resumption of formal talks. But OPAPP secretary Ging Deles and GPH negotiating panel chairman Alex Padilla are stubborn and unreasonable. Their main thrust is to nullify The Hague Joint Declaration, which they call a document of perpetual division, instead of being the document that opened the way to peace negotiations.
They also want to nullify the JASIG and terminate the peace negotiations by refusing to release even the publicly known JASIG-protected prisoners and by taking advantage of the fact that the Arroyo regime connived with the Dutch government in seizing and destroying the keys to the computer discs bearing the information regarding the JASIG-protected consultants, security officers and staffers.
At any rate, I still hope that the Aquino regime or the next regime will engage in serious peace negotiations with the NDFP. I have gotten used to waiting for the next regime when a current reactionary regime proves to be against serious peace negotiations. I am also used to waiting for further advances in the armed revolution of the Filipino people. ###
