Over the weekend I listened intently on the radio as Luis Jalandoni, a citizen of Holland (if I remember correctly) lambasting the Dutch government for placing Jose Maria Sison a.k.a Joma Sison in solitary confinement.
In the course of the interview, Jalandoni drew a picture of how the Dutch authorities arrested Joma Sison, raided his office, threw Joma in the same prison facility that was used by Nazi soldiers as a prison for captured Dutch resistance fighters, he also made mention that it was in the same prison where Serbian President Slobodan Milosovich was imprisoned (for war crimes) and died awaiting judgment.
Jalandoni also talked of protesters in front of the prison demanding for justice for Joma and condemning the US-RP alliance behind the incarceration of Joma.
I’m sure many ignorant and gullible people would have been mesmerized by Jalandoni’s story, but not all Filipinos are ignorant and not all Journalists or Broadcasters are gullible either. Regardless of our political leanings, the truth must never be allowed to be twisted. Not even once and certainly never repeatedly just to draw sympathy or to distract from the facts.
Jalandoni’s interview on radio was very disturbing because it painted the Dutch government as an oppressive state, violating the human rights of Joma Sison, casting suspicion related to the natural death of Milosovich and suggesting that the Dutch government could be manipulated by the US-RP leadership.
To begin with let us set the record straight. Joma Sison and Jalandoni are at war against the Philippines and are proponents of Communism by way of armed struggle. Joma & Jalandoni moved the leadership of the National Democratic Front or NDF to Europe first to save their necks from a government set on letting them rot in jail and second to generate political and financial support.
To legitimize and prolong their stay in Europe, Joma sought political asylum in Holland. Jalandoni who started out as a Roman Catholic priest, shed his priestly vows and subsequently shed his Filipino citizenship and became a citizen of Holland. He is currently the alter ego of Joma Sison and long time spokesman of the NDF.
For more than 20 years, the two have benefited from the protection of the Dutch legal system. Even when the Dutch government felt that Sison was no longer in need of political asylum, his right to contest the matter was respected and he remained free from threat or harassment.
This is a reflection of how the Dutch government honors and abides by its laws, to a fault even when their “guests” turn into ingrates, they still respect their rights.
In the same breath, The Dutch government is duty bound to accept and act on any formal complaint brought to them especially against someone whose stay is no longer welcome and now accused of murder. Dutch authorities study charges and evidence seriously and don’t simply place the accused before Kangaroo courts nor do they exercise extra-judicial killings.
Now that Joma Sison is on the other side of the fence, Jalandoni must do no less than respect the Dutch legal system which respected their rights for more than 20 years.
Unfortunately for Sison and contrary to the insinuations of Jalandoni, The Dutch government has evolved certain laws to cope with international terrorists.
The law gives authorities the right to detain you for several days without having to tell you why. The NDF as we all know has been labeled by US authorities as a “Terrorist” organization. As the Americans are fond of saying: “What goes around, comes around”.
Since my wife is from Holland, I have had many opportunities to drive by, walk past the prison facility that has held many interesting guests. The place which is walking distance from my brother-in-law’s house is a very drab, unassuming place which looks more like a factory than a prison.
Dutch citizens make a joke for a short tern imprisonment because the living standards in prison are so high you could shoot a high-class version of “Big Brother” (which is originally from Holland) or ‘Bahay ni Kuya’ and people might think it’s in a condo. On my last visit, the law required that every prisoner has a bed, if not he goes home. Serious!
When Milosovich died in the same facility, it was not because of poor care. He simply died. Nothing has ever pointed to the contrary. The prison was used to detain Dutch freedom fighters, the same way Rizal memorial was used to imprisoned Filipino fighters and rape Filipinas. That’s the ugliness of war that has no bearing on Joma and the charges against him.
I have always been against the misuse and abuse of media and its facilities. Whether its Jalandoni, a politician, an actress or even a false prophet, we cannot and we should not allow any misuse and misinterpretation of facts through media.
How many times have reporters talked about a “Big” group of protesters marching here or there only for us to find out that there were no more than fifty? In Burma or in China, two or ten protesters would be a significant number, but in the Philippines that’s nothing but a group of Jaywalkers.
Unfortunately it happens because of “One Upmanships” or media bosses demanding NEWS when there is none. So the reporters turn a none-event into a flash report or a scoop. Of course it would be a scoop the scoop group was so insignificant no one noticed it.
Sadly the more experienced are so jaded that they lose sight of the fundamentals. I remember when I was a Radio host for DZMM and was hooked up with a guy called Father Luis Jalandoni launched his standard “isms” and tirade at the government
I quickly asked Jalandoni about his citizenship. I guess he realized where I was headed and dismissed the question as irrelevant. I politely pointed out that a Dutch Citizen certainly had no business interfering in a purely Philippine matter and hung up.
Once again the same “foreigner” as well as an enemy of the state has been given access to Philippine Media and allowed to attack the Dutch government which is never good for diplomacy. The matter concerns the legitimate and legal exercise of a Filipino against a Filipino and not the NDF.
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