Deport Bolante Back to the Philippines,

ALLIANCE FOR A JUST AND LASTING PEACE IN THE PHILIPPINES (AJLPP) � U.S.A.

PRESS STATEMENT
July 28, 2006

Reference: Mario Santos, Spokesperson, 415-309-5835

Deport Bolante Back to the Philippines, Take Prof. Jose Maria Sison Off the US-EU �Terrorist� List and Resume Peace Talks, Now -AJLPP-USA

The Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP-USA) scores the hypocrisy of the US Ambassador Kinney�s announcement that the US government �would be helping the Philippine government to fight corruption.�

We believe that if the US government is serious in its campaign against corruption, it should start revealing details of why Arroyo�s former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante who was taken into custody in the United States and is now applying for asylum in the United States is not being deported back to the Philippines.

The AJLPP-USA disputes Bolante�s alleged claim that the New People�s Army (NPA) is after him � the reason Bolante that has reportedly cited in seeking asylum in the US. We further maintain that Jocjoc Bolante should be deported back to the country immediately to bring closure to the issue of the P2.372-billion fertilizer fund that President Arroyo used as her campaign kitty during the last Philippine presidential elections in 2004.

While both the Philippine and the US government apparently show leniency and utter partiality to law breakers like the Arroyo bagman Bolante and former Philippine police officer Michael Ray Aquino, progressive Filipinos like Prof. Jose Maria Sison who is currently exiled in the Netherlands and is an important personality for the resumption of the peace process between the NDFP and the GRP are being persecuted and being labeled as a �terrorist.�

Michael Ray Aquino should have been deported a long time ago because he is still wanted for the crime of killing PR man Bubby Dacer and his driver in the Philippines but due to the intercession of the Philippine government he was released. Many analysts believe that a trade-off was made between Arroyo and Lacson who then ran against GMA and FPJ, thus FPJ lost the presidential elections in 2004.

Meanwhile, because the Communist Party, the New People�s Army and Prof. Sison remain on the �terrorist� listing of the US and the European Union, the peace negotiations between the Manila government and the NDFP is stalled and remains suspended indefinitely. The US-Arroyo regime, meanwhile, has intensified its counter-insurgency operations against the NPA and the revolutionary movement.

The Arroyo regime has even included members of the NDF peace panel in its �list of its most wanted persons.� Indeed, the regime has flagrantly violated the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) signed with the NDFP by committing the following:

1. the murder of NDFP political consultant Sotero Llamas;
2. the repeated assassination plans and attempts against NDFP chief political consultant Prof. Jose Maria Sison and senior legal adviser UN Judge ad litem Romeo T. Capulong; and,
3. the arbitrary arrest and detention of regional consultants Edgardo Sacamay, Angelina Ipong, Eduardo Serrano, Rogelio Calubad with his son and Prudencio Calubid, together with his two companions.

The AJLPP calls on the US government to act and deport Arroyo�s bagman Bolante. We likewise call on the Philippine government to prosecute Bolante as soon as he is returned to the Philippines. Only then we can believe that they are both serious in fighting corruption in the Philippines. Otherwise, we are just watching another charade in the making. Peace will only be another victim in the altar of self-appointed high priests of immorality, corruption and greed. #