MANILA, Philippines — Fidel Agcaoili, the chairperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace negotiating panel passed away. He was 75.
In a statement, the NDFP said Agcaoili died at 12:45 p.m. Thursday in Utrecht, The Netherlands, where he was exiled.
“According to the doctor, the cause of his death was pulmonary arterial rupture which caused massive internal bleeding. It was not COVID-19 related,” the NDFP said.
“He would have turned 76 on 8 August,” it added.
The NDFP said Agcaoili’s remains will be flown to the Philippines in accordance to the wishes of his family.
Agcaoili was said to be the longest held political detainee during martial law. He was one of the founders and the first secretary-general of the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA).
Under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte who billed himself as the country’s first president “from the left,” peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines were revived in 2016.
But ties between him and the Jose Maria Sison-led communist insurgents have soured due to clashes between government forces and rebels, leading to the government to declare CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army as terror groups. — Gaea Katreena Cabico