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| photo from Inquirer (ctto) |
The Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 32 on Thursday has ordered the arrest of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairperson Jose Maria “Joma” Sison and 37 others including rebel group leaders and members.
A warrant of arrest came out five days before the
commemoration of the Inopacan mass@cre in Leyte by surviving families whose
loved ones were among the hundreds of victims killed in a mass execution executed
by the New People’s Army (NPA) in the 1980s.
Presiding Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina, of the Regional Trial
Court Branch 32 in Manila, issued the Warrant of Arrest dated August 28, 2019,
against Sison with aliases Joma, Armando Guerrero, Armando Liwanag, and his
wife Juliet, former National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace
negotiator, and so on.
The arrest warrant also came following an order issued by
Judge Medina on 22 August 2019, after finding probable cause that the “accused
committed the offense as charged in the amended information”.
There is “no bail” recommended for the 38 accused of the
said mass@cre.
Based on estimates of former rebels and the victims’
relatives, the Inopacan mass@cre or mass purging, dubbed by the NPA as “Oplan
Venereal Disease”, claimed the lives of about 300 residents in Leyte province.
During the 12th commemoration of the massacre on September
2, the families of purging victims continue to cry for justice for their loved
ones who were summarily executed by the NPAs on the suspicion of their ties
with the military.
Charges were filed in 2006 after the skeletal remains of 67
victims were exhumed from shallow graves in Subang Daku village, Inopacan town,
Leyte on August 28, 2006.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the
United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New
Zealand, and the Philippines.
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