(Photo from josemariasison.org)
A warrant of arrest has been issued against Communist Party of the Philippines founding chair Jose Maria “Joma” Sison and 36 others for the mass execution perpetrated by the New People’s Army (NPA) in the 1980s in Inopacan, Leyte.
Presiding Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32, issued the Warrant of Arrest dated August 28, 2019, against Sison, his wife Juliet, former National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace negotiator, Luis Jalandoni – NDFP senior adviser and others.
No bail was recommended for all the accused.
About 300 residents in Leyte province were killed in the Inopacan massacre or mass purging, dubbed by the NPA as “Oplan Venereal Disease” based on estimates of former rebels and the victims’ relatives.
67 skeletal remains of victims were exhumed from shallow graves in Subang Daku village, Inopacan town, Leyte on August 28, 2006. Charges against the accused were filed soon after.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (Rommel F. Lopez)