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Balweg hits terror list: ‘We left the underground long ago’

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Gerry Lirio, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/02/21/balweg-2018-021618.jpg"/><figcaption>Jovencio Balweg (third from left) is seen here with brother Bienvenido Balweg (first from left) and ex-comrades of their late sibling, the late &quot;rebel priest&quot; Conrado Balweg, in an interview at a restaurant in Baguio City in February 2018. ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - The brother of slain rebel priest Conrado Balweg on Thursday urged the government to review what it called a list of terrorists, saying he and others named were no longer communist rebels.In a statement sent to ABS-CBN News, Jovencio Balweg said the list the Department of Justice (DOJ) released on March 9 was unfair and dangerous.“DOJ should thoroughly look into the list they published because it is sad that some of us who left the movement to live a normal life is again under the risk of surveillance and threat,” he said.Balweg was a former hitman of the New People’s Army. He was arrested and detained in May 2009 but was freed by the court in July 2011. In 2016, he ran and won a seat at the municipal council in Malibcong town in Abra.He was in the top 20 of the list that tagged him and Jose Maria Sison and Julie de Lima, Luis Jalandoni and Connie Ledesma, Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, among others, as terrorists.Government sought the declaration of the communist group as a terrorist organization following the <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/23/17/duterte-signs-proclamation-cancelling-peace-talks-with-reds">collapse of peace negotiations</a> last year. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/08/18/philippines-seeks-terrorist-tag-vs-un-special-rapporteur-600-suspected-reds">Philippines seeks &#x27;terrorist&#x27; tag vs UN special rapporteur, 600 suspected Reds</a></li>	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/05/17/duterte-declares-cpp-npa-as-terror-group">Duterte declares CPP-NPA as terror group</a></li></ul>Today at 78, Balweg is enjoying his stint as an elected government official, serving as a municipal councilor. He said he has changed his ways long ago, and that Lt. Col. Dominic Baluga, Commander of the 24th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army&#x27;s 7th Infantry Division, knew his whereabouts and activities all these years.“I have dedicated my whole life as a legislator. I have pledged that I would fulfill my duties as a legislator, my responsibility as chair of the committee on appropriation, vice chair on peace and order and other committees. Concurrently I have to do my best as chairman on the People&#x27;s Law Enforcement Board,” he said.Balweg is now pushing for autonomy first in the Cordilleras, before federalism.In February, Balweg agreed to an interview with ABS-CBN News and talked about President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to federalize the country and the covenant between President Corazon Aquino and his brother to grant autonomy to the Cordillera Administrative Region. This was the result of the peace agreement that the Aquino administration and his brother and the Cordillera People’s Administration forged in September 1986.Conrado Balweg, chief of the Cordillera People&#x27;s Liberation Army, died in the hands of NPA hitmen led by Jovencio Balweg. The CPLA is an NPA breakaway group. With the split, the Balweg brothers found themselves on opposite sides.Balweg recalled his departure from the NPA with a heavy heart.“Years before my arrest on May 19, 2009 in Baguio City, I had been suffering [from] illness because of asthma, pneumonia, high blood pressure and heart problem,” he said.“I was then brought to Camp Crame Detention Center after a couple of months of Gen. Martin`s care at Camp Crame compound. At the detention center, I suffered again a stroke and eventually triple heart bypassed at the Philippine Heart Center.&quot; He was released in July 2011. “I [had] to stay first in Baguio City for better recovery. Then after a year, I went to Abra and stayed at Bangued, the capital town,&quot; he said. He said he survived with the help of his wife, relatives, and friends in government and the clergy. There is no way he can be a terrorist, he said.“When I decided to go back in the mainstream, my family and I all left the revolutionary movement. Since then, my family and I have no linkages with the left movement. Up to present, we are just ordinary citizens dedicating our time and effort to our family and present jobs,” he said.

MANILA - The brother of slain rebel priest Conrado Balweg on Thursday urged the government to review what it called a list of terrorists, saying he and others named were no longer communist rebels.

MANILA - The brother of slain rebel priest Conrado Balweg on Thursday urged the government to review what it called a list of terrorists, saying he and others named were no longer communist rebels.

Balweg hits terror list: ‘We left the underground long ago’

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Balweg hits terror list: ‘We left the underground long ago’

Gerry Lirio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 15, 2018 08:48 PM PHT

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Jovencio Balweg

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