President Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted to have peace talks with Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison, but terminated the dialogue because Sison demanded a coalition government.
“The problem with Sison, which I would like to have peace talks, reach out to him, is Sison wants at the end of the day a coalition government,” Duterte said.
“Sison and the government have had these talks in Netherlands and from the summaries that are given me after every meeting, I read it, then I digest it and look for the meaning beyond the words and the commas and the periods. There’s something wrong,” the President said.
“Pagka ’yan ho ang hinihingi niya, ’di ko talaga maibigay sa kanya because sovereignty or the power to run the country, which is the sovereign power of the State, is given to Filipinos who are elected by the people,” Duterte said.
“You might elect a President who is a son of a b**** wala na ho tayong magawa diyan if it’s the choice of the people. The military, the police and the civilians will have to honor the mandate because that is the voice of the people and that is provided in our Constitution,” the President said in his speech during the 14th Founding Anniversary 2nd Kanlahi Festival in Tarlac.
Duterte said if Sison would insist on what he wants, “at this early, let’s cut our ties because I cannot give you what I do not own.”
“Sovereignty resides in the people and is delegated to the representatives of the people and to the President and to the Supreme Court,” the President stressed.
“They have sovereign powers and if you want to exercise sovereign powers, the Constitution simply says get elected,” he added.
A middle-ranked Philippine Army official on Wednesday raised the issue of insincerity of the communist movement as the stumbling block to resolving the decades-old insurgency menace in the country.
Lt. Col. Louie Villanueva, spokesman of the Philippine Army, said that despite its willingness to close the curtain of conflict with the communists, the matter is being disrupted by the series of violations, a vital factor leading to the disruption of bilateral talks.
“It will depend on the sincerity of these people (communists),” Villanueva said.
Villanueva’s comment came after President Duterte said that he is open to resuming talks with the CPP-NPA if the communists agree to a ceasefire.
Duterte abrogated the talks with the communist after a series of violations committed by the New People’s Army (NPA) who reportedly attacked government forces in the countryside. The president later branded the NPA rebels as terrorists.
Villanueva said the settlement of the conflict remain as the primordial interest of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Army in particular on the issue, but it has been disrupted by the violations by the NPA’s.
“On the first place it’s always us who are on the verge of conflict and being affected to,” said Villanueva.
The resumption of talks with the communist, Villanueva said, would be a welcome development but such attempts were being derailed by the unabated breach in the provisions of the peace process.
“We have tried these many times, they (communists) were given the chance and yet they’re the ones who destroys the process,” he said.
The collapse of the talks prompted military forces to launch relentless manhunt against the NPAs that resulted in the surrender of thousands of insurgents which Sison later described as fake surrenderees.
Sison had claimed that the supposed NPA surrenderees which the military had paraded was part of government counter-propaganda.
“Duterte’s regime looks ridiculous and even funny by staging the fake surrenders of NPA fighters and their supporters. But serious violations of civil and political rightes are perpetrated by Duterte and the military in their intensified drive to produce fake surrenders,” Sison said in a statement.
Sison even projected an NPA intensified offensive against the AFP, the PNP and their auxiliary forces in order to defeat them and make further advances in the revolutionary movement.
But the military rejected Sison’s statement, saying that several NPA fighters decided to yield and rejoin main stream society due to hardship and polluted policy of the communist party.
Last week, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Garcia, Public Affairs Office head, reported that a total of 2,263 regular members and supporters of the NPA had surrendered due to focused military operations, intelligence efforts and the re-integration efforts and peace development programs of the AFP, the PNP and Local Government Units.
Sison, for his part said the fake surrenders and fake encounters being claimed by the Duterte regime and the military will become inutile even as he described it as a military psywar for the extremely gullible.
Meanwhile, the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command reported that a total of 209 high-powered and low-powered firearms were either confiscated from or surrenderred by NPA members and a total of 155 improvised explosive devices were seized.
As this developed, Duterte said that former New People’s Army rebels who surrendered to the government will receive financial assistance, free education for their children, training, and may be integrated into the armed forces.
The President said that many of the former MILF fighters who eventually joined the military sacrificed their lives to protect their towns and military units.
Duterte also promised to treat female NPA female returnees to Hong Kong for them to see the achievements of capitalist societies, contrary to the promises of the NPA.
Speaking before the rebel returnees at the Malacanang Palace where the President hosted a dinner, he said the rebel group have been fighting the government for the past 50 years and has brought nothing except misery to the lives of the people.
As the government starts massive infrastructure development, the President explained that it means more skilled workers are needed.
He then advised them to acquire training and new skills to be able to join the work force.
For instance, President Duterte said three companies in Davao City are in need of skilled workers for their operations.
He also underscored that education of their children would allow them to have better lives.
One hundred eighty seven rebel returnees composed the third batch who had visited Malacañan Palace.