- Manila assured the Dutch government that its citizens would be protected by the authorities as demonstrations erupted around the country to protest the arrest.

- Officials said Sison and other communist leaders could avail of the amnesty proclamation if they applied for it.

The Cabinet committee met early this month in Malaca±ang with the local government officials and religious leaders to draft plans for peace initiatives.

The amnesty proclamation will be sent to Congress for concurrence after which the rebels could apply, surrender their firearms, be processed by the local peace and order councils, and get livelihood assistance.

Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser on the peace process, said Palace officials will work on the congressmen to ensure the speedy concurrence of the proclamation. He said the crimes that would be covered by the amnesty proclamation are those committed in pursuit of political beliefs.

Dureza expressed the hope that Congress will approve the proclamation before December.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said there will be no ceasefire while the amnesty program is in effect.

“I am all for amnesty if they come out with their firearms and denounce armed struggle," Esperon said.

National security adviser Norberto Gonzales said the amnesty proclamation is not an “enticement” to further weaken the communist movement after the arrest of Communist Party of the Philippines founding chair Jose Ma. Sison recently in the Netherlands for the murder of former allies Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara.

“It is something that we need to do. It is something that flows automatically when you have a peace process... we need to have laws that will define how those engaging in armed rebellion could go back to the fold of the law," Gonzales said.

He said the amnesty was prepared because local officials are saying that there are many NPA rebels who want to go back to a normal life.

He also said the President has ordered the holding of another peace summit in Butuan City, which would cover the peace initiatives in the Agusan and Surigao provinces. Peace summits have been held in Cagayan de Oro City and in Bohol.

Gonzales said it is “too early” to say that the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front-New People’s Army is crumbling because of Sison’s arrest.

“We have seen the resiliency of the CPP-NPA so we should not be too rash in saying that because Joma Sison is arrested that the movement will collapse," he said.

He said Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo can be an “ideal leader of a new CPP that will adhere to the democratic process" because he has already experienced being in Congress.

Utrecht by Dutch police to face criminal charges for his involvement in assassinations that took place in the Philippines.

Sison is a founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed branch, the New People’s Army, which has been fighting for years against consecutive governments in Manila, the Dutch statement said.

Sison has been living in The Netherlands since 1987. He had applied for a political asylum but he was not granted one. He could not be deported because his life would allegedly be endangered upon his arrival in the Philippines.

The Dutch government has issued a warning advising its citizens not to go to the Philippines because of possible attacks by the NPA and Sison’s sympathizers.