The Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) has listed Joma Sison and other 18 alleged ranking members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as terrorists.
The designation of the alleged 19 terrorists, listed in the council’s Resolution Number 17 (2021) dated April 21, 2021, authorizes the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze their assets.
Aside from Joma Sison, also included designated as terrorists are his wife Julieta, Vicente Ladlad, Jorge Madlos, Adelberto Silva, Rey Casambre, Rafael Baylosis, and Wilma and Benito Tiamzon. They are all members of the CPP’s Central Committee.
“The Central Committee is the highest decision- and policy-making body of the CPP and also leads and commands the NPA, its main weapon in attaining the Party’s goal of overthrowing the duly elected government by seizing and consolidating political power through violent means,” the ATC said in a press release published in a local broadsheet.
The ATC said they based the list on “verified” and “validated” information that the said CPP central committee members violated several sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act “for planning, preparing, facilitating, conspiring, and inciting the commission of terrorism and recruitment to and membership in a terrorist organization.”
Gov’t lists Joma Sison, 18 CPP officials as terrorists
Meanwhile, Joma Sison said he and his wife were “not at all bothered” by the designation.
“To start with, the list of names in the designation appears to be arbitrary, dubious and even contradictory or inconsistent with the various public and purportedly personal statements even of its own NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) evil minions,” said Joma Sison, who is in self-exile in The Netherlands.
“Moreover, it includes mostly publicly known political consultants of the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) negotiating panel in the peace negotiations with the Manila government who are all entitled to the protection of the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement of Safety and Immunity Guarantees(JASIG) and other binding bilateral agreements.”
In a separate resolution, Resolution Number 16 (2021), the ATC also designates 10 members of “local terrorist groups” such as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Daulah Islamiyah as terrorists.
“Designation plays a critical role in the fight against terrorism and is an effective means to eliminate, prevent or suppress the financing of terrorist acts, the provision of support to entities and persons involved in terrorist acts, the recruitment of members of terrorist groups, and the supply of weapons to terrorists,” the ATC said.
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