CEBU CITY - "A triumph of justice."

That was how top military commanders in Visayas yesterday described the arrest of communist rebel leader Jose Maria Sison in the Netherlands on suspicions of ordering the murder of his two former allies. Law enforcers yesterday braced for retaliatory strikes by communist insurgents with the arrest of their party leader in the Netherlands.

Security forces were placed on heightened alert to thwart attacks from the 7,000-strong New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, officials said.

"It is better to be on the cautious side rather than be sorry later," Armed Forces chief General Hermogenes Esperon said.

Maj. Gen. Victor Ibrado, who will assume command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command today, said Sison will be assured of his day in court, ironically, a right he denied to thousands of innocent victims of communist kangaroo courts in more than three decades of existence.

Sison, who carries the nom de guerre of Armando Guerrero and Armando Liwanag, was arrested Tuesday in Utrecht, Netherlands where he has lived in exile for 20 years, is suspected of ordering the killing of Arturo Tabara, former secretary of the defunct CPP Visayas Commission, and former NPA chief Romulo Kintanar.

Police records show that Sison was also included among the respondents in the rebellion cases filed that had stemmed from the attack and bombing of the Silay airport in October last year.

Brig. Gen. Gregorio Fajardo, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, yesterday said the arrest of Sision will have major effects on the leadership of the CPP and down to its lowest level in the countryside.

To the AFP and the government, Fajardo said it is a "welcome development", adding that Sison was also behind the Plaza Miranda bombing and other atrocities, which the NPA committed nationwide.

The New People's Army had claimed responsibility for the assassination of Kintanar in 2003 and of Tabara and his son-in-law Stephen Ong a year later, all in Metro Manila.

Sison now calls himself a political consultant for the National Democratic Front, which has been involved in off-and-on peace negotiations for many years with the government.

The CPP-NPA has also been listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States.

Gov. Joseph Marañon said the arrest of Sison could weaken the rebel movement.

Ben Solilapsi of Alab Katipunan said that, with the arrest of Sison, "We hope that finally justice will be served to all the victims of the CPP-NPA atrocities, especially to the murders of Kintanar and Tabara."

The peace negotiations between the government and the CPP-NPA should not be used as an excuse to free Sison, Solilapsi said, adding that Sison has committed crimes and must be held accountable.

On the other hand, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Negros yesterday condemned in the strongest terms the arrest of Sison and the raid on the houses and offices of National Democratic Front personnel by the Dutch authorities.

Felipe Levy Gelle Jr., Bayan Negros secretary general said the development has dire and far reaching repercussions on the peace process in the Philippines.

He said the arrest of Sison and the subsequent raids and interrogation of NDF personnel was done with the knowledge and prodding of the Philippine government, and added that they condemn both the Dutch and Philippine government for what they call the latest attacks on the civil liberties of progressives based in Europe.*GPB

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