A MEETING between government officials and key leaders of the revolutionary group National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) may take place next week, no less than Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus G. Dureza has confirmed.
In a statement sent to reporters on Sunday, Dureza said he and Presidential Legal Adviser Salvador S. Panelo may meet with NDFP Chief Negotiator Fidel V. Agcaoili and NDFP Peace Panel Member Luis G. Jalandoni in Manila.
“The planned meeting with Agcaoili and Jalandoni may take place next week in Manila,” he said. “President Duterte has tasked me and Secretary Salvador Panelo to meet with them in an informal chat.”
Dureza is on his way to New York, heading the Philippine delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. According to him, the planned meeting may take place upon his return next week.
Agcaoili and Jalandoni are coming to Manila despite threats of arrest. Part of their presence in the country was a requested meeting with Duterte, of which the President disclosed and added with a statement that he is yet to act upon.
Agcaoili and Jalandoni would be accompanied by another NDFP official, Maria Consuelo K. Ledesma, during their travel to Manila as earlier disclosed by the NDFP.
Both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police (PNP) said they would serve any pending warrant of arrest against Agcaoili and Jalandoni while in the country, thus raising the possibility of their detention.
The only thing that would stop the serving of a warrant is if it would be ordered by the President, according to Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año.
Digging into the records of Agcaoili and Jalandoni, the PNP said Jalandoni has three pending warrants of arrest from three courts around the country—two in Quezon and one in Leyte.
Agcaoili, on the other hand, also has a pending warrant of arrest for kidnapping, also from a court in Quezon, according to Año.