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Political prisoners: Victims or villains?

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Gigi Grande, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/06/21/inopacan_062116.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">This handout picture taken 31 August 2006 shows a police forensic team inspecting skeletal remains of over a hundred people believed to be victims of a communist insurgent purge, at a mass grave in an isolated area near Inopacan town, Leyte. Regional military commander Colonel Oscar Lacurom said the area was used as a burial ground by the communist insurgents for people they killed as part of a purge of suspected government infiltrators and informants that began in 1985. Armed Forces of the Philippines Handout/ AFP</div></figcaption></figure></div>FELISA EPIBA’s dream of going to school was shattered early on in life. Her father was killed in Inopacan, Leyte thirty years ago on suspicion of being a government informant against the New People&#x27;s Army. Her family still mourns his loss today. &quot;Masakit talaga kahit matagal na, nakakalungkot talaga,&quot; she said. Felisa said her father was neither a rebel nor an agent; he was but a farmer, a loving husband and a good provider, she said. Years later, a mass grave would be found by the military, and the killing of Felisa&#x27;s father and dozens of others would be known as the Inopacan massacre, supposedly the beginning of the alleged purge of communist members accused of various offenses, ranging from disloyalty to corruption. Each wanted for P10MSeveral persons were charged in court as the brains behind the purge, among them Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma, alleged top leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Police put a P10 million bounty for Benito, another P10 million for Wilma. The couple was arrested in 2014. Fidel Agcaoili, spokesperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, doesn&#x27;t deny the purge had taken place. But he denied the Tiamzons had anything to do with it. &quot;May nangyari talagang ganyan na hysteria, iyang DPA (deep penetration agent) hysteria in Mindanao, Vizayas and even in Northern Luzon,&quot; he said. &quot;But the movement has already condemned this and those involved. Many of them left, others were charged and disciplined. We will not be defensive over the actions of people who are no longer part of our organization.&quot; Victims or villains?The Tiamzons are among over five hundred prisoners the NDFP wants released upon the resumption of formal peace talks with government. &quot;If there were victims there (Inopacan), the movement could help them get justice. Let&#x27;s all run after those who ordered this,&quot; Agcaoili said. The NDFP, which represents the Communist Party of the Philippines and NPA in negotiations, said the Tiamzons are political detainees, or persons detained for their political beliefs. They are covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees or JASIG, Agcaoili said. Signed by the government and the NDFP in 1995, the document assures specific persons involved in the peace process of immunity from arrest. The NDFP is also pushing for the release of Alan Jazmines, Tirso Alcantara, Alfred Mapano, and Pedro Codaste who are charged in court with multiple murder; Renante Samara, Concha Araneta Bocala, Leopoldo Caloza, Kennedy Bangibang, Jaime Soledad and Adelberto Silva, who have been charged with murder; Loida Magpatoc who has been charged with robbery with double homicide; Ruben Saluta, charged with rebellion; and Ernesto Lorenzo, charged with destructive arson. Eduardo Sarmiento was convicted of illegal possession of explosives while Emeterio Atalan was convicted of murder. The NDFP said these people are not criminals, but peace consultants, and just like the Tiamzons, they are protected by the JASIG. Obsolete floppy disc But who, exactly, is covered by the JASIG? Profiles and photographs that identify the persons covered by the agreement were stored in a floppy disc soon after the agreement was signed. The floppy disc was kept in a vault in the Netherlands. But by the time the peace panel, facilitators and observers came together in 2011 to access the data, the file had been corrupted. &quot;Maybe it was because of the years it was there, maybe it was old fashioned, I don’t know. But they couldn’t (open the file),&quot; said Alex Padilla, Chief negotiator of the government for talks with the left. &quot;Government declared a failure of verification. It means all those arrested and those using aliases are no longer covered by JASIG,&quot; he said. Since then formal peace talks have been stalled. All smiles, now With the election of Rodrigo Duterte as president comes newfound hope the peace talks would move forward. Duterte, who has described himself as a socialist, has offered the left not just an olive branch but positions in his cabinet. CPP founder Jose Maria Sison was Duterte&#x27;s professor at the Lyceum University. Duterte has been quoted as saying Sison helped shape his political and ideological views. In a meeting in Oslo last week, Sison and representatives of the incoming Duterte administration were all smiles following exploratory talks, pledging to resume formal negotiations by mid-July. But back in Inopacan, optimism is sorely missing. Felisa is devastated at reports the Tiamzons may be released from prison. Others who were orphaned or widowed by the purge that took place nearly three decades ago have also started to lose hope that justice would ever be served, in the hope of putting an end to the longest running insurgency in Asia.<figure class="op-social"><iframe frameBorder="0" height="383" src="~//www.youtube.com/embed/N1oSepP2Y-U" width="510"></iframe></figure>

Felisa Epiba's dream of going to school was shattered early on in life. Her father was killed in Inopacan, Leyte thirty years ago on suspicion of being a government informant against the New People's Army. 

Political prisoners: Victims or villains?

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Political prisoners: Victims or villains?

Gigi Grande,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 21, 2016 09:44 AM PHT

Read More:

Benito Tiamzon

new people's army

political prisoner

inopacan

gigi grande

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