• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negrense priest turned rebel Luis Jalandoni, known as Ka Louie among his comrades in the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), has died on June 7 while in self-exile in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
He was 90.
“It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Ka Louie Jalandoni, beloved by the masses, a true internationalist, revolutionary leader, and stalwart of peace,” the CPP said in a statement.
Jalandoni, of Silay City, Negros Occidental, passed away peacefully while surrounded by his comrades, wife Maria Consuelo “Ka Coni”, and family, the statement added.
The CPP, however, did not reveal the cause of Jalandoni’s death.
His death came five years after the passing of CPP founder Jose Maria Sison also in The Netherlands and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace negotiating panel chairman Fidel Agcaoili in 2020.
According to the CPP, Jalandoni founded the Christians for National Liberation (CNL) in 1972, leading progressive-minded religious workers in resisting the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
In the same year, he joined the CPP while the CNL became one of the founding allied organizations of the NDFP in 1973.
He and his wife, Connie, were arrested and detained at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City in 1973 while the country was under Martial Law. They were released a year later and immediately resumed revolutionary work.
In 1976, Jalandoni and his wife went abroad where they sought and granted political asylum in the Netherlands.
Jalandoni was formally designated as the chief negotiator of the NDFP in peace negotiations with the Philippine government in 1989, and served as the NDFP chairman until 2016.
But the peace talks with various presidents never materialized. | GB
