MANILA – Progressive women’s group Gabriela trooped to Camp Crame of the Philippine National Police on Tuesday, April 22 to demand for the immediate release of National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ consultant Wilma Austria-Tiamzon and Andrea Rosal, daughter of the late spokesman of the Communist Party of the Philippines Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal. The…
“The international community finds the filing of dubious and legally untenable charges against the Tiamzon couple as violative of basic criminal law principles and is not only a threat to the peace process but also to due process rights recognized by all civilized nations.” – Edre U. Olalia, NUPL secretary general
The peace talks between the Government of the Philippines, represented by the Aquino administration, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines have been on and off during the last few years. The Aquino administration, which took over the reins of government on a platform of change, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, which is representing a revolutionary movement that has been waging an armed struggle during the last 45 years to solve the basic ills confronting Philippine society, could not seem to come to terms on how to address the roots of the armed conflict and achieve a just a lasting peace. And instead of being able to move forward, the prospects for the peace negotiations seem to have become dimmer and dimmer.
How could the peace talks between the GPH and the NDFP proceed? Bulatlat.com’s editor Benjie Oliveros and Rey Casambre, executive director of the Philippine Peace Center and one of the convenors of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, discusses about this and more.
Rex and Lorraine Villaflor, who were arrested along with the Tiamzon couple, “alerted Karapatan when there was no news of Santos’ whereabouts after the much-publicized raid by the Philippine National Police at the rented house of the Tiamzons on March 22.”
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat perspective Look beyond the name-calling and the labels – communist-terrorists, extortionists, ideological orphans, Stalinists, followers of a lost cause – what do you see? Do you see people who have suspiciously amassed wealth and its trappings such as palatial mansions and houses, luxury cars, jewelry, money and capital that they could…
Lawyers of the Tiamzon couple asked the court, presided by Judge Madonna Echiverri, to give them five days to study the records and the evidence so they could appraise their clients about the charges being filed against them, but the court proceeded with the arraignment.
More than the romance that is expected, the Tiamzons, and the others mentioned, depicted a tale that does not merely promise the lover the world, but rather with a faithful commitment to change it.
“Principled negotiations, not the surrender of one party to the other, is what makes for genuine and enduring peace.” – Bp. Deogracias Iniguez, Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com For the longest time the military has bombarded the public with the propaganda that it is Joma Sison who is leading and controlling the Philippine revolution from his base in Western Europe. This reasoning was accepted without question by many anti-Left intellectuals and they used it to malign natdem activists…
MANILA — Wearing masks, members of Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (Makibaka), an allied organization of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), staged a lightning rally, March 25 at downtown Carriedo. Makibaka condemned the arrest of alleged top communist leaders Wilma Austria, Benito Tiamzon and five others and called for the immediate release…