Accusing lawyers as communists sets them up to be killed—Agcaoili
Accusing progressive lawyers of being under the direct control of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is setting them up to be killed, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel chairperson Fidel Agcaoili said.
Reacting to a February 27 Philippine News Agency (PNA) report that he has the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) directly under his command, Agcaoili said the accusation by the so-called “No to Communist Terrorist Group Coalition” has a more sinister objective.
“[The accusation] is meant to smear any organization or individual to set them up for the kill, as has been shown in many cases in the past such as those of NDFP consultant Randy Malayao and NUPL lawyer Benjamin Ramos,” Agcaoili said in a statement.
In a PNA report, the coalition accused Agcaoili of using the NUPL to lawyer for accused communists facing legal complaints so that “top-level” rebels are shielded.
“Agcaoili handles the legal affairs of the [communists] and he has the NUPL directly under his command,” the group alleged.
The Left’s chief negotiator, however, denied the allegations, adding the PNA report was also mistaken in saying he is a lawyer.
“For the record, I am not a lawyer, never had the ambition to be one despite coming from a family of lawyers. So I have nothing to do with the [NUPL], though some of its members happen to be legal consultants of the NDFP Negotiating Panel even before the organization was founded, as well as legal counsels of detained NDFP consultants and political prisoners,” Agcaoili said.
“Such happenstance does not make NUPL a so-called front of the [CPP] nor are the concerned lawyers as members of the Party,” he added, challenging his accusers of proving their accusations.
“In accordance with due process, it is for any court of law, be it revolutionary or reactionary, to determine the truth of such allegations through competent and admissible evidence and not through manufactured witnesses or planted evidence like what is brazenly happening now,” Agcaoili said.
Agcaoili in turn accused the coalition of being part of “the GRP security cluster [that] are having a heyday in engaging in a wild frenzy of anti-communist witch hunting against legal democratic organizations, individuals and the parliamentary opposition.”
“They have even become bold enough to disrespect and challenge the pronouncements of their commander-in-chief. But I leave it up to them to sort out their differences,” Agcaoili said, referring to a recent pronouncement by Government of the Republic of the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte that he may be allowed back into the country. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
