DESPITE the Norwegian government’s earlier commitment to support peace negotiations with the communist rebels, the military will continue to launch anti-insurgency campaign to wipe them out for threatening to kill a soldier a day, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
“While we all want peace, we cannot see the sincerity of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army of the Philippines [CCP-NPA] to have a genuine peace talks,’ Roque said over a radio interview.
“Ngayon po wala muna kasi nga po hindi naman titigil ang putukan. Nakikipag-usap ng putukan, tina-target pa rin ang mga kasundaluhang mga Pilipino!”, (For now, there’s no peace talks as fighting continues. They (rebels) are talking with gun fires and targeting Filipinos”, Roque said.
‘So why would the government insist on the peace dialogue when the rebels don’t want peace,” he said, adding, “so war against the CPP-NPA will continue.”
Roque said CPP founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison has threatened the Duterte administration of killing a soldier every day.
But President Rodrigo Duterte answered back at the communist leader’s threat and said that he would order the military to kill five NPA rebels for every soldier killed by the rebels.
“The message is, ‘You don’t threaten us, Joma Sison. We are the state. If we haven’t eradicated you, it’s because we opted not to eradicate you as Filipinos. But if you want war, we’re ready to go to war,’” Roque said.
In fact, Duterte has raised the P20,000 bounty to P25,000 for each communist rebel killed by government forces to save on anti-insurgency costs.
“You kill an NPA today and I’ll pay you P25,000,” Duterte said in a speech at an air base in Cebu City, referring to NPA guerrillas.
In November last year, Duterte issued a proclamation formally ending peace negotiations with communist rebels. The President signed proclamation 360 declaring the termination of peace negotiations with the NDF-CPP-NPA.
The President considered the communist group as terrorist.
However, the government official clarified that the military is only going after the NPA, the armed unit of the CPP which has waged a 50-year-old insurgency.
The government will use all available assets of the Armed Forces to wipe out the communist rebels, Roque said.