The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is coordinating with the European Union for possible revocation of the refugee status of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison.

This was disclosed by Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano in a radio interview on Sunday morning.

“On Joma Sison yesterday I talked with the deputy ambassador of EU we are encouraging them to help us revoke the refugee status of Joma Sison so he will be extradited here in the Philippines and for him to answer the charges against him,” he said.

When asked if there is a positive response from the EU, Ano said “yes, they are helping us. We hope this will continue.”

Ano added that the DILG, Department of National Defense (DND), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) plan to create a team to go after CPP members who are subject of an arrest order by the Manila Regional Trial Court.

“I already talked with ( Defense) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, (PNP Chief) Gen. Orcar Albayalde,(AFP Chief of Staff) Gen. Benjamin Madrigal. We will create joint teams of PNP and AFP to hunt down these CPP-NPA (New People’s Army) members who have warrant (of arrest) regarding Inopacan massacre,” he said.

“It is a good development. We want this for us to be able to put them back to jail. Some of them were already detained but were released to participate in the previous peace talks. Now they no longer have any reason, we no longer have peace talks,” he added.

The warrant of arrest for Sison, his wife Juliet and the 36 other CPP members were issued by Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32 last Aug. 28.

According to the arrest warrant Sison and his co-accused were tagged in the "Inopacan massacre" in Leyte in 1980's. Robina Asido/DMS