President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected the resumption of peace talks with communists, taking back his recent statement expressing openness to the revival of negotiations.
“Gastos lang ‘yan. Walang mangyari diyan,” [It entails cost. Nothing will come out of it.] Duterte said in a recorded interview on state-run PTV4.
The President blamed the communist rebels’ supposed “impatience,” adding that he has became wary about their many demands while continuing their attacks on government troops and installations.
“Nakakadala kasi. Kasi kung anong pinagsasabi na ganun. Sabagay, nagmumura rin ako pero itong mga ‘to, almost [dreaming?],” he said.
“You know, when you come to a negotiation and you bring along a dream. Sometimes, it’s really impossible. ‘Yung gusto mo ‘yung, you do not go into the harsh realities of life, kung ang nandiyan. But you start to dream of things that are not really, that are unreachable stars. Mahirap ‘yan,” he added.
Early this month, Duterte said that he was considering whether to accept the offer of communist rebels for an eventual resumption of the peace talks, but said could not accede to all their demands for the release of political prisoners.
Responding to Duterte’s offer of a general amnesty for communist rebels who will lay down arms and cooperate with the government, the National Democratic Front said that he will not “fool anyone in the revolutionary movement” with his offer as “nothing but a psywar tool to create division within the revolutionary movement”.
The negotiating panel said Duterte made the pronouncement to make it appear like he is sincere in building peace with the communist rebels.
Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison expressed belief that the communist rebels might not accept Duterte’s calls for a protracted and indefinite bilateral ceasefire, ahead of a return to peace talks.
Sison reiterated that the Duterte government must first commit to the social and economic reforms, isues that are at the heart of the communist insurgency.
The Communist Party of the Philippines earlier tagged the Duterte government as “anti-people, pro-imperialist, and fascist” for embarking on efforts to undermine the very institutions that serve as a check on his executive powers,” including revived threats to declare martial law nationwide and impose a “revolutionary government.”
Duterte ended the peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front in July following a series of attacks of its armed wing the New People’s Army (NPA) against government forces.
