By LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel condemns in the strongest terms the assassination attempt on NDFP Consultant Glicero “Ka Choy” Pernia on 16 September 2009 in Barangay Lower Binogsacan, Guinobatan, Albay. Pernia is a victim of torture and illegal detention by the Arroyo regime in gross violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).
Pernia and his police escorts came from a court hearing in Ligao City and were on board a vehicle on the way back to the Albay Provincial Jail when they were ambushed. The assassination attempt took place in an area heavily militarized by camps and units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). The place of the incident is near the detachment of the 502nd PNP Provincial Mobile Group. Nearby are the large camps of the 8th Scout Ranger Company and the 22nd Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army. Moreover, the majority of the nearby barangays are occupied by the Special Operations Team (SOT) of the 901st Brigade of the AFP.
The malicious propaganda of the AFP that the ambush was carried out by the New People's Army (NPA) is proven baseless by the overwhelming presence of the regime's military and police forces in the ambush site. Furthermore, the allegations of the military officials were in stark contradiction. One claim was that the NPA tried to rescue Pernia. The other version was that the NPA tried to kill him.
The propaganda of the military is malicious and baseless. Glicerio “Ka Choy” Pernia is an NDFP Consultant in good standing whose release is among those demanded by the NDFP Negotiating Panel as a concrete proof of GRP compliance with the JASIG before the resumption of formal peace talks.
The NDFP holds the US-Arroyo regime and its armed forces accountable for this dastardly assassination attempt on Glicerio Pernia. This is another flagrant violation of the JASIG. It further sabotages the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.
