THE military on Tuesday expressed opposition to the reported negotiations being conducted by some allies of the Malacañang for the release of a top leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) who is now detained.

The Armed Forces spokesman, Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., said “yes” when asked if the military will insist on the continued detention of Alan Jazmines, 65, who is held at the National Police’s Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

“That [release] is for the [government] peace panel to decide and at the same time he [Jazmines] has to answer all the criminal charges filed against him in court,” Burgos added.

Military records showed that Jazmines was the subject of 13 warrants of arrest for murder and rebellion cases filed before the sala of Judge Rodolfo Garduque of Branch 63 of the Regional Trial Court  Branch 63 in Calauag, Quezon, and Branch 59 of the RTC in Lucena City.

He was arrested on February 14, 2011, in his apartment at around 6:30 p.m. by policemen accompanied by members of the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion in Villa Aurea in Barangay Subic, Baliuag, Bulacan.

The military said Jazmines was a member of the Executive Committee and Political Bureau of the CPP Central Committee, but this is being denied by National Democratic Front chief peace negotiator Luis Jalandoni.

Jalandoni insisted that Jazmines is an NDF consultant and a member of the NDF Reciprocal Working Committee on Social and Economic Reforms (RWC-SER).

He is allegedly the 15th NDF consultant to be arrested so far by the government. NDF consultants are covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig) and are thus immune from arrest.

However, the NDF has yet to submit an approved list of its consultants to the government peace panel.

Jazmines is a graduate of the University of the Philippines (UP).

Military sources said he was the former chief of staff of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., the President’s father, before the declaration of martial law in 1972.

“Jazmines joined the New People’s Army three times. Former President Ferdinand Marcos gave him parole two times and then he rejoined again the NPA. He surfaced last year and conducted a painting exhibit at the fourth floor of Gateway in Cubao. From there his place was traced in Bulacan that resulted in his arrest,” a source said.