PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday vowed to immediately end the many years of exile abroad for his former professor, Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison, expressing concern over the leader’s health and urging him to return home.
After government and communist negotiators agreed to hammer out a joint interim ceasefire leading to a comprehensive settlement of the 48-year insurgency, Duterte reiterated his offer to pay up for the hospital bills of Sison.
He said government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III called him Wednesday and said Sison was “very sick.”
“That’s why I offered him to come home and I’d pay for the hospital because I think he is about to…” Duterte without completing his sentence.
Sison, who sought political asylum in Utrecht, The Netherlands, was hospitalized in January, causing him to miss the third round of peace talks in Rome, Italy.
Sison, however, said he was ready to participate in the fourth round of talks.
Duterte urged the communists to stop the fighting.
“You want another 50 years? I grieve when I see a Filipino die. But if you don’t want to stop, then let us fight for another 50 years. I don’t have any problems, I have many soldiers.”
On Thursday, the Palace expressed hope that the interim joint ceasefire agreed upon by government negotiators and communist rebels will put an end to further hostilities.
“We hope this prevents further hostilities and unnecessary loss of lives on the ground,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
Abella said the interim ceasefire will immediately take effect as soon as the guidelines and ground rules are approved, and will remain in effect until a permanent ceasefire is agreed upon.
“The peace process, while seemingly slow, highlights the maturing social and political sense of the Filipino. Together let us build communities that are just and peaceful. This is what being an independent sovereign nation is all about,’ he added.
But the spokesman for the Armed Forces, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, said regular operations against the communist New People’s Army would continue until the ground rules and guidelines for the interim ceasefire are signed and approved.
“Prior to the signing and approval of these ground rules and guidelines, current state of affairs—which is the non-existence of a unilateral ceasefire on both parties—will still continue,”Padilla said in a television interview over ANC.
Padilla also observed that the NPA rebels behaved differently in different areas of the country.
“In some areas, they seem to lean forward on the negotiations. In others, they seem to be much more aggressive and may indicate a non-compliance to some instructions from their negotiators,” he said.
The military on Thursday rejected demands from communist rebels for a temporary pullout of troops in rebel-infested areas in exchange for the release of four hostages.
“The conditions they are asking for are non-acceptable to us and the police as well as the President,” Padilla said.
Shortly after the declaration of a joint interim ceasefire, the National Democratic Front called on security forces to order a 10-day suspension of military operations (SOMO) for the AFP and Suspension of Police Operations (SOPO) for the PNP in areas of Bukidnon, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and South Cotabato, where they are set to release six captured prisoners of war still in their custody as a “positive gesture” for the fourth round of peace talks.
The guidelines to be signed at the seaside town of Noordwijk at The Netherlands, will cover the areas such as those governing the presence of armed groups in local communities and creation of buffer zones; on prohibited, hostile and provocative acts including the collection of revolutionary taxes; and undertaking of joint socio-economic projects.
Also contemplated in the agreement is the formation of a Joint Ceasefire Committee and the prospective role of a third party in ceasefire monitoring and other ceasefire mechanisms in the implementation of the ceasefire, including the handling of complaints and alleged violations.
