Joma Sison: Tiamzons’ arrest will damage peace negotiations

The arrest of Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP/NPA) leader Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma will only impede peace negotiations, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace panel chief political consultant Jose Maria "Joma" Sison said.

According to a report on GMA News TV's "News To Go" on Monday, Sison, founding chairman of the CPP, asked that the Tiamzons be released for the sake of the negotiations.
 

They are covered by the Joint Agreement Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) since they are peace consultants for the NDFP, he added.

Earlier, however, Malacañang said the Tiamzons are not protected by JASIG because Benito used an alias, while Wilma fled detention before the guarantees were laid out.

Furthermore, Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the JASIG is no longer "operative" because the list of those supposedly covered by it has been inaccessible due to a corrupted diskette.

The Tiamzons were arrested by personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police in Cebu on Sunday afternoon. 

The couple, who follow the tradition in the CPP of husband-and-wife leadership teams, was said to have taken over the helm of the movement from Sison, a long-time exile in the Netherlands. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KG, GMA News