35 Facts About Fidel Agcaoili

Fidel Agcaoili was a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines' Central Committee, along with Jose Maria Sison and Luis Jalandoni during the Marcos dictatorship.

On his release, Agcaoili founded the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto, a prisoners' rights organization.

From 1989 until his death, Fidel Agcaoili was involved in peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Fidel Agcaoili continued to serve in the peace panel, becoming co-chair of the GRP-NDFP Joint Monitoring Committee in 2004, and eventually succeeding Jalandoni as chief negotiator in 2017.

Fidel Agcaoili's father had an insurance company and was an established lawyer, and was a classmate and friend of Ferdinand Marcos in the UP College of Law.

Fidel Agcaoili first became a student at the University of the Philippines Diliman in the early 1960s, taking up Political Science.

Fidel Agcaoili joined a fraternity in UP, encouraging his fraternity brods to be politically active.

Fidel Agcaoili joined a Marxist study organized by Sison, which took place in the private residence of ambassador Emilio Bejasa.

Fidel Agcaoili returned a year later, in time to participate in the founding of Kabataang Makabayan in 1964.

At some point, Fidel Agcaoili became a high-ranking officer in his father's insurance company.

Fidel Agcaoili became a member of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 during this time, which was undergoing a split between the old Lava faction and the younger faction led by Sison.

Fidel Agcaoili organized studies, produced publications, and entered negotiations with other local and foreign parties, and eventually contributed to the reorganization brought about by the First Great Rectification Movement.

In 1970, Fidel Agcaoili became part of the Central Committee of the CPP.

Fidel Agcaoili became the chair of the CPP's Finance Committee.

Fidel Agcaoili was involved in "discreet" action as part of the CPP.

Fidel Agcaoili was incarcerated in various detention centers while contesting the charges, such as Camp Crame, Bilibid, and lastly in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig.

Fidel Agcaoili was not scheduled for release due to his status.

Fidel Agcaoili first applied for bail in 1982, but no action was taken by the court.

Fidel Agcaoili filed a petition for mandamus on April 14,1984, to compel the government to release him on bail.

Fidel Agcaoili was eventually released on October 24,1984, more than ten years after his initial arrest.

Fidel Agcaoili formed the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto, a prisoners' rights group.

Fidel Agcaoili helped organize Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance in 1985, becoming its Executive Director.

Fidel Agcaoili was involved in the Preparatory Committee which established the Partido ng Bayan on August 30,1986.

Fidel Agcaoili took over as Chairman when labor leader Rolando Olalia and his driver Leonor Alay-ay were kidnapped and murdered by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as part of the "God Save the Queen" plot, in time for the 1987 senatorial elections.

In 1988, Fidel Agcaoili was targeted for arrest and decides to go on voluntary exile in Europe, taking a job with the Spanish non-government organization Instituto de Estudios Politicos para America Latina y Africa.

Fidel Agcaoili was a representative of the International Network of Philippine Studies, and became instrumental in organizing the International League of People's Struggle with Sison.

Fidel Agcaoili continued his key role in representing the NDFP in negotiations with other parties, organizations, and movements, as well as organizing migrant Filipino workers.

Fidel Agcaoili joined exploratory talks between the GRP and the NDFP in 1989 when President Aquino sent Jose Yap to the Netherlands to negotiate.

On September 1,1992, when both sides adopted the Hague Joint Declaration as the framework of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, Fidel Agcaoili assumed the role of Vice Chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel.

Fidel Agcaoili headed the NDFP Reciprocal Working Committee for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, which drafted the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, adding specific provisions for the respect of rights for political prisoners.

In 2004, Fidel Agcaoili served as the co-chair of the GRP-NDFP Joint Monitoring Committee which looked into CARHRIHL violations.

Fidel Agcaoili engaged in a series of talks with Duterte which paved the way for the resumption of peace talks in August 2016.

On July 23,2020, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines announced that Fidel Agcaoili died, 12:45 pm, in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Fidel Agcaoili was survived by his wife Rosario, five children, and multiple grandchildren.

Contemporaries remembered Fidel Agcaoili as taking on the smallest details, such as making travel arrangements and picking up consultants at the airports, despite his high-ranking position.