Duterte wants private talk with Joma

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte may have scrapped negotiations with communists and branded them as terrorists, but he remains open to the possibility of talking to Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison.

“Gusto ko si Sison pumunta dito. Kaming dalawa mag-usap, kaming dalawa lang dito sa kuwarto (I want Sison to come here. The two of us will talk, only the two of us in this room),” the President told MindaNews in an interview in Davao City last Friday.

Sison, who has been on self-imposed exile in the Netherlands since 1987, has urged Duterte to resume the peace talks, which were terminated last November after communist rebels staged a series of attacks against government forces.

He has refused to return to the Philippines, citing threats to his life. Security officials say the threats are also posed by Sison’s rivals in the communist movement.

Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque Jr., however, said the resumption of talks was not likely because of the treacherous acts
of the New People’s Army (NPA), armed wing of the communists.

Asked whether the doors of the peace talks are permanently shut, Duterte replied, “I don’t know but it would need more than just a show of good faith.”

“When the time came for a termination (of the negotiations), suddenly all those… the activity is activated, everywhere, anywhere… and they start waging a war against the government,” the President added.

Presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza was tight-lipped when asked whether he was optimistic about the prospects of the talks with the communists.

“Let’s just wait what develops from here on. We know the President’s dream is to have sustainable peace but what has happened has provided new challenges that need new paths and ways to peace,” Dureza said in a text message.

Duterte has blamed the communists for the collapse of the talks, saying they are pushing for a coalition government, a setup that he said is not allowed by the Constitution because it would involve “sharing” of the country’s sovereignty.

The President has also classified the CPP and NPA as “terrorists,” a move that would enable the justice department to declare them as terrorist organizations before the courts pursuant to the Human Security Act of 2007.

Despite the scrapping of talks, Duterte declared a unilateral ceasefire with the communists that took effect from 6 p.m. on Dec. 23 to 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 26 and on the same hours from Dec. 30 to Jan. 2.

The National Democratic Front, which represented the rebels during the talks, also declared its own ceasefire that took effect 6 p.m. on Dec. 23 to 6 p.m. on Dec. 26, and the same hours on Dec. 30 to Jan. 2.

But the military claimed that the communists violated their own ceasefire by attacking soldiers in Mindanao.

Duterte revealed that he had spoken with Sison about the killing of government troops during the ceasefire.

Sison reportedly claimed that they had no control of their forces because of “limited communication.”

Duterte said he would return to the negotiating table if the communist rebels, whom he described as arrogant, “go lower,” MindaNews reported.

“The way they answer, they are very arrogant... son of a b****. They have no ideologues,” the President said.

Duterte said he had told Dureza and government peace panel chairman Silvestre Bello III that he was “not in the mood for love and talks.”

“Bumaba muna sila (They should come down first),” Duterte added.

Duterte admitted in the interview that branding the CPP and NPA as terrorists would not solve the decades-old communist rebellion, the longest-running Maoist insurgency in Asia.

“No, but it can lessen their number,” the President said.

Duterte said the NPA ambush in Bukidnon last November, which left a six-month old girl dead, prompted him to cancel the talks.

“The problem now is they are not actually addressing the roots. They are out to take out government and… assassinating,” the President said.

When he assumed office in 2016, Duterte vowed to forge a political settlement with communists, even appointing people associated with the Left to government posts as a goodwill measure.

Among the Left-leaning personalities given posts were former agrarian reform secretary Rafael Mariano, former social welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo, National Anti-Poverty Commission lead convenor Liza Maza, labor undersecretary Joel Maglunsod and former Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chairman Terry Ridon.

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