Press Statement
2 November 2002

COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN UNION DOES GREAT DISSERVICE
TO FILIPINO PEOPLE AND EUROPEAN PEOPLES

By bowing to US pressure and listing the New People’s Army and Professor Jose Maria Sison as “terrorists”, the Council of the European Union does a great disservice to the Filipino people who aspire for a just and lasting peace and have demanded that peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) be resumed.

Such listing, without any due process completely disregards the statements signed by GRP Vice-President Teofisto Guingona and more than a thousand Filipinos, the questions raised by 22 Europarliamentarians from nine countries, 27 Swedish parliamentarians, 4 Danish parliamentarians and 2 Dutch parliamentarians.  Less than a week before the decision taken by the Council of the European Union through a written procedure, Danish member of the European Parliament, Ms. Pernille Brahm pointedly raised the question to the presiding Danish Minister of Interior how he who had signed the European Parliament resolution endorsing the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations could now contradict that resolution and be in favor of the listing of Prof. Sison and the CPP/NPA as “terrorists”.

The parliamentarians who called for support for the resumption of peace negotiations and demanded that the listing of the CPP, the NPA and Prof. Sison by the Dutch government be withdrawn and who opposed such listing by the Council of the European Union also reflected the aspirations of so many European organizations and individuals who have opposed the Bush “war on terrorism”.  The Council of the European Union is doing therefore also a great disservice to the European peoples.

Such listing by the Council of the European Union, following the listing of the CPP, the NPA and Prof. Sison as “terrorists” by the Bush Administration, puts the NDFP Negotiating Panel and its consultants and staffers in Europe under duress.  The NDFP Negotiating Panel will not agree to negotiate under duress.

The malicious move of the US, now followed by the Council of the European Union and applauded by the militarists in the Macapagal-Arroyo government, is designed to promote US interests in the Philippines and the whole of East Asia.  It goes against the interests and aspirations of the Filipino people.  It also goes against the interests of the European peoples. 


Luis G. Jalandoni
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

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