Dutch Govt. assailed for ‘coddling’ Joma Sison
CPP fronts need to paint PH in a bad light for Sison’s personal interest
TWO Philippine patriotic organizations staged a protest activity last March 27, 2021, to assail the government of the Dutch Republic (Kingdom of the Netherlands) for its continued grant of political asylum to Jose Maria ‘Joma’ Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), his wife Juliet de Lima-Sison and other members of the party’s ruling Central Committee.
“We appeal to the Netherlands Government to expel Joma Sison together with his co-terrorists,” reads a statement from the ‘La Liga Indepencia Pilipinas’ (League of Independent Philippines) and, ‘League of Parents of the Philippines.’
“The State of the Netherlands has provided Joma Sison and the ruling members of the terrorist group CPP-NPA-NDF a sanctuary and a staging ground in Utrecht, Netherlands, to propagate their senseless war of terror and aggression against the government and the Filipino people,” the group added in their protest activity held near the Dutch Embassy in Makati City.
After being released from prison by Pres. Corazon Aquino right after the fake ‘People Power Revolution’ in 1986 that illegally removed Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, Sison left the country the following year, purportedly for a series of “speaking engagements” but ended up in the Netherlands where he sought, and was granted, political asylum on the bogus claim that he would be persecuted and killed by the Philippine government should he return home.
The appeal to the Netherlands was made by the group ahead of the 52nd anniversary of the the CPP’s armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).
Principle of ‘non-refoulement’
Southern Luzon (Solcom) military area commander and NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) spokesperson, Lt. General Antonio ‘Jun’ Parlade, in a column piece that appeared at the Manila Times last March 19, 2021, explained that Sison and his confederates have managed to use the principle of ‘non-refoulement’ in hoodwinking the Dutch government into granting his request.
Sison has been classified a “terrorist” and the CPP-NPA as “terrorist organizations” by the European Union (EU) where the Netherlands is also a member.
Similarly, Sison and the CPP-NPA are classified as “terrorists” by the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom and the Philippines.
But for the principle of non-refoulement, Sison should have faced trial or deported back to the Philippines to answer for the several murder cases he has been facing here that were committed by the CPP-NPA.
These include the gruesome 1985 ‘Inopacan Massacre’ in Leyte province where at least 85 villagers were killed by the NPA on suspicion of being government supporters. A Manila court is currently hearing the Inopacan case against Sison and other CPP-NPA leaders that the government has filed on behalf of the victims.
The non-refoulement principle, embodied in international humanitarian laws, guarantees “that no person, such as a political asylum seeker, can be returned to a country where they would face persecution, torture, punishment and other irreparable harm.”
“The non-refoulement principle is contained in United Nations Resolution 47/133, Article 8, paragraph 2 of 1992 and this is what the Dutch court has been invoking to prevent Sison from being repatriated to face charges of genocide.
“The moment the international community, especially the European Union and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights are convinced that our country is safe for Joma to return immediately, he will be sent home by the Dutch government,” the official added.
Parlade added that it is in this context that the public should view the conscious effort by CPP-created ‘human rights groups’ to project a very negative human rights image of the country abroad—to serve the personal interest of Sison.
“This explains why the CPP and its propaganda machine is hell bent on projecting an image of this administration, and all administrations in the past for that matter, as human rights violators. “That’s the reason why when the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) consistently achieved zero human rights violation for the past seven years, the CPP was frantic.
“Suddenly they started classifying the anti-drug campaign as political in nature.
“It is not. It is a law enforcement campaign targeting criminal syndicates,” Parlade explained.
