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'Joma' to focus on peace talks after murder raps dropped
By LOUI GALICIA, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau | 04/01/2009 10:40 AM
Published on ABS-CBN News Online Beta (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com)
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/print/48428

ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau correspondent Loui Galicia interviews Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Prof. Jose Ma. Sison

A very happy and triumphant Jose Maria Sison and wife Juliet faced ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau after the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was vindicated by the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office of all charges brought against him

ABS-CBN was the only media invited to attend Sison’s meeting with his lawyers in Amsterdam to talk about their next steps.

Sison showed ABS-CBN the notice he received from the Dutch Prosecutor's Office about its decision to drop all charges against him in connection with the murders of his erstwhile allies Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara.

"Ako’y nagagalak. Masaya ako na itong long-expected decision nangyari na. I've long expected the decision to be dismissed because in the first place I'm innocent of the charge," Sison said.

In an earlier report, the Dutch Public Prosecutor spokesman Wim de Bruin confirmed to ABS-CBN that they did not gather sufficient evidence on the charge that Sison ordered from the Netherlands the murders of his former allies. The prosecutors' investigation lasted more than one a half years.

In a press statement, the Dutch Prosecutor also said, "During the inquiry in the Philippines and the Netherlands, the investigators walked into a wall of fear among witnesses and there was no willingness to make statements."

However, Sison contested the statement.

"No less than the Court of Appeals here said that it's doubtful whether I can take witnesses in my favor and cross examine the witnesses from the other side, and this is completely the opposite of the claim by the Prosecutor's service in a press release that there is a wall of fear and there is insinuation that the fear came from my side," Sison said.

"No, it can't be. It was the Philippine government that fed false information and false witnesses against me, and the Court of Appeals said that I would have difficulties in countering this wall of fear set up by the Philippine government," he added.

For Sison's lawyer, all's well that ends well, but this is just one victory among Joma's many battles.

"We're just very happy that the Prosecutor finally decided and has seen the light and decided to drop this hopeless case, and that's the most important decision," Michiel Pestman said.

Pestman said that for the moment, there is still a decision pending in Dutch Court regarding their complaint on the two assassination attempts at Sison's life in 2001.

"The most important thing now is that everyone--that includes the Prosecutor in the Netherlands but also the Philippine authorities--will focus on the attempt to kill Prof. Sison in 2001, and we expect the Filipino authorities to cooperate with the Dutch authorities into getting the truth, to establish the truth. And we expect them to cooperate as enthusiastically as they had cooperated in the investigation against Prof. Sison. I expect the truth to be established, and I expect that people who did that will be caught and brought to justice," Pestman said.

"Norberto Gonzales has played an important role in the investigation of Sison and I sincerely hope that he will put the same effort into pursuing the case against the perpetrators of the attempt to kill Prof. Sison," Pestman added.

Gonzales is currently the National Security Adviser of President Arroyo.

Meanwhile, apart from the possibility of claiming for damages, Sison sees some positive effects on the dropping of the charges against him.

"I hope the Dutch government would try to set things right by having me taken out of the terrorist black list. Another expectation of mine, I'm not distracted anymore by the false charge. I can pay more attention to the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and NDF [National Democratic Front] so my success in this case is also a positive thing for the cause of trying to advance the peace negotiations," Sison said.

Sison said he's glad that despite the pressures of the Philippine and US governments on the Dutch government and despite the accommodation or complicity of the political authorities, there is still enough sense of fairness in the Dutch judicial system.