President Rodrigo Duterte says that his former mentor and professor, Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison suffers from a rare bone marrow disease. The President urged Sison to end years of political exile, come back home and be able recuperate here in the country.
Sison, however, shot down his former student’s claims, saying that he would only return home if the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) gets signed and approved under the ongoing peace negotiations between the government and communist rebels.
“I said Sison can go home here. I will guarantee his safety and freedom. He will be free to walk around, may sakit na eh. Hayaan mo. Sison is seriously sick. He has a rare—something to do with—not leukemia—but sa bone marrow. Parang ganoon na rin. Come home. I’ll pay for the hospital,” Duterte said at the 25th AFAD Defense and Sporting Arms Show in Davao City.
Sison, 78, who was Duterte’s professor in political thought at the Lyceum of the Philippines University, has been in self-exile in Utrecht since 1986.
The CPP founding chairman, however, said that while he missed the closing ceremony of the third round of talks at Rome, Italy, he denied having a rare bone marrow disease.
“I do not have any rare bone marrow disease. I do not know how President Duterte got that notion. I am now in good health. I have been out of the hospital since March 20,” Sison said in a statement.
“I was able to attend the fourth round of formal talks, and I shall be able to attend the forthcoming fifth one,” Sison said.
The CPP founder likewise stressed that only the signing of a CASER would compel him to return to the country.
“The Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms must first be signed and approved by the GRP [Government of the Republic of the Philippines[ and NDFP [National Democratic Front of the Philippines] negotiating panels and by their respective principals,” he said.
The fifth round of peace talks between the Philippine government and the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines is set to resume this week at Noordwijk in The Netherlands from May 27 to June 1.