(NI KIKO CUETO)

PINAGTAWANAN lang ni exiled communist leader Jose Maria Sison ang pinakabagong hakbang ng Duterte Government para siya ay mapabalik ng bansa sa pamamagitan ng extradition.

Sa pahayag, sinabi ni Sison na hindi siya mapupwersa na maibalik sa Pilipinas, kahit na humirit pa ang pamahalaan ng tulong sa International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) para maaresto siya.

Sinabi ni Sison na saklaw at protektado siya ng United Nations’ Refugee Convention at ng European Convention on Human Rights.

“No international authority can override the fact that I am in the Netherlands and within the jurisdiction of the Netherlands,” sinabi ni Sison sa ANC Early Edition.

“There’s no way I can be extradited. I enjoy absolute protection from being deported from the Netherlands whether it is to the Philippines or a third country,” dagdag nito.

Noong isang linggO, isang korte sa Maynila ang naglabas ng arrest warrant laban kay Sison at 37 na iba, kaugnay sa “Inopacan massacre,” isang 1980s purge ng Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) sa mga miyembro na sinasabing inaakusahan sa offenses sa Leyte province.

Sinabi ni Sison na ito ay malinaw na pamumulitika lamang.

“In 1985, I was under maximum security detention and I had no authority whatsoever in the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA),” sinabi nito.

Hindi rin naniniwala si Sison na magkakaroon ng peace talks na matino hanggat nakaupo si Duterte.

“If a miracle occurs that Mr. Duterte would like to have peace negotiations, I think the National Democratic Front of the Philippines would have to take his change of mind seriously,” sinabi nito.