Philippines wages counterinsurgency on multiple fronts

The arrest last week in the Netherlands of the exiled leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has waged a Maoist insurgency since 1969, is creating ripples at home. Its founder, Jose Maria Sison, is accused of plotting the murder of two political associates killed in Manila in 2003 and 2004. Mr. Sison, who denies the accusations, has been indicted under Dutch law and doesn't face imminent extradition to the Philippines. Authorities in Manila put security forces on alert against any reprisals by the CPP's armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA).

The BBC reports in its guide to insurgencies in the Philippines that the European Union and US government have designated the NPA as a terrorist organization with an estimated 10,000 members.

On Friday, a court in The Hague ordered Sison to be detained for up to two weeks, one day after activists protested in Amsterdam against his arrest, Reuters reported. Judges said they were concerned that Sison, who has lived in the Netherlands since 1987, might attempt to flee during the pretrial investigation.

The Philippine Inquirer reported Monday that Army units discovered two recently abandoned camps run by the New People's Army. A Philippine Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, said that 100 NPA rebels had surrendered separately at another location and added that the rebels were struggling to regroup. Another Army spokesman said the arrest of Sison was a factor in the seizure of the camps.

Capt. Carlo Ferrer, spokesperson of the Army's 2ID, said the arrest of Sison prompted rebels to abandon their camps. He said the "dwindling support from the people" as well as the "relentless pursuit by government forces" combined with Sison's arrest to demoralize rebel troops.

In Manila, the Associated Press reported last Thursday, around 100 left-wing protesters were prevented from marching on the Dutch Embassy. Police used truncheons and shields to beat back the protesters, who called on Dutch authorities to release Sison. They accused the Philippine and Dutch governments of trying to sabotage efforts to restart frozen peace talks with the CPP to end the insurgency.

The activists demanded Sison's immediate release from jail in the central Dutch city of Utrecht, chanting "Arrest Gloria, not Joma," referring to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Sison's nickname.

"The Arroyo government is sorely mistaken when it thinks that it can intimidate the people's movement for national liberation and democracy," said Carol Araullo, chairwoman of the left-wing group Bayan. "The whole world is seeing the insincerity of the Philippine government in pursuing the peace negotiations."

ABS-CBN News posted last week on its website excerpts from an interview with Sison conducted in the Netherlands before his arrest. Sison's replies are in a mixture of English and Tagalog, the dominant Philippine language. He blames the Philippine government for the poverty that drives people to take up arms and cites land reform as a key demand.

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