MANILA – Five leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines were allowed to travel abroad and join the resumption of peace negotiations with the Philippine government.
The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32 granted the Motion to Travel Abroad filed by Benito Tiamzon, Adelberto Silva, Rafael Baylosis, Randall Echanis, and Vicente Ladlad.
In their motion, Tiamzon and Silva said they should be allowed to participate in the peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines from June 22 to 30 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
NDFP negotiating panel chairman Fidel Agcaoili invited them to attend the informal and the formal talks. They have “indispensable” functions during the events, the respondents said.
“After a careful consideration of the arguments of both parties, the Court grants the accused-movants’ Motion to Travel Abroad,” the Manila RTC said. “Thus, they entreat that their bail bonds be reinstated and declared effective for the duration of the peace negotiations.”
The respondents were required to strictly follow the rules the court set for their provisional liberty, including the requirement to return to the Philippines within three calendar days after the completion of the informal and formal talks.
Tiamzon and Silva were again required to post a P100,000 bail bond, with their previous bail bonds already cancelled.
The five were among the accused in a murder case that stemmed from the discovery of a mass grave in Leyte province that had bodies of suspected victims of the communist rebel purge in the 1980s.
The respondents were released from jail in August 2016 to join the peace negotiations as NDFP consultants but they were ordered rearrested after the peace talks were terminated last year./PN
