National Democratic Front of the Philippines emissary Fidel Agcaoili denies the Duterte administration’s claim that the communist group is demanding for a coalition type of government.
In a statement on Tuesday, Agcaoili said they never demanded a coalition type of government, denying the statements of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Armed Forces Chief Eduardo Año, and Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.
“For the record, the NDFP has never put forward any demand for a coalition government,” Agcaoili said.
This has been clarified several times by Prof. Jose Maria Sison to the GRP [Government of the Republic of the Philippines] and the Third Party Facilitator, on the Royal Norwegian Government, since October 2017.”
Agcaoili made his statement even as the communist rebels on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to remove President Rodrigo Duterte from office, belittling his supposed “independent foreign policy” aimed at reducing the Philippines’ reliance on the United States.
The Communist Party of the Philippines made the statement on the 72nd anniversary of Filipino-American Friendship Day on July 4th, the 242nd anniversary of American independence from British rule.
The CPP said Duterte’s promise in 2016 to lessen the Philippines’ dependence on the US, which had previously criticized his war on drugs, had not translated into policy.
“Over the past two years, he has perpetuated US neocolonial rule in the country,” the group said.
Agcaoili said the Duterte administration had “adopted the false narrative of its arch enemy,” referring to the Aquino administration.
He said the Duterte administration was just using its attacks on the rebels to stop the peace talks that, he said, they had already won.
“At any rate, it looks like the orchestrated lies and attacks of Lorenzana, Año and Roque against Prof. Sison have sounded the death knell on the peace talks under the Duterte regime. The peace spoilers seem to have won the day!” Agcaoili said.
Sison has called Duterte “a big liar” for refusing to form a coalition government with the communist rebels back in November 2017.
He said when Duterte was still mayor in 2014, he had been pushing for a coalition government with the CPP, but Duterte changed his mind when he was “carried away by fascist dictatorship through Charter change.”