{UAH} Duterte inclined to scrap peace talks with communist rebels

Duterte inclined to scrap peace talks with communist rebels

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Updated July 8, 2018, 7:14 AM

By Genalyn Kabiling

The peace talks between the government and the local communist group is on the brink of being totally scrapped.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte gestures as he spoke before the members and officials of the Chinese Filipino Business Club Inc at the Fiesta Pavilion of the Manila Hotel during the 10th Biennial Convention and 20th Founding Anniversary of CFBC. (Manila Bulletin)

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On Friday night, President Duterte said he is no longer inclined to pursue peace talks and prefers to go to war with the communist rebel group.

The President stressed this after Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison allegedly claimed that the Chief Executive would be ousted in three years.

The President said he was prepared to accept his destiny if ousted but prefers to go to war with the rebel group first.

"Sabi naman ni Sison, I will not last three years. Kaya ang sabi ko kay Sison ngayon, "Ayaw ko na makipag-usap sainyo kasi sabi ninyo three years nalang pala ako dito. So wala na akong time makipag-usap sa inyo. Bahala na kayo diyan [Sison said I will not last three years so I told Sison now, 'I don't want to talk to you because you said I'd only last for three years. I have no time to talk to you. It's up to you],"Duterte said at the opening ceremony of the National Science and Technology Week in Davao City Friday night.

"Sabi nila [They said] instead of fighting, they'll just use their energies to oust Duterte. Ah okay lang kung 'yun ang ginustong tao [That's fine with me if that's what the people want]. I am ready to be ousted pero fight muna tayo [but let's fight first]," he added.

The President maintained that he was ready to become an ordinary citizen if removed from office if this was part of his destiny.

"Alam mo ba ang sabi niya? [Do you know what Sison said?] Duterte will not last. Until three years. O 'di fine. If that is my destiny, I will accept it. There's no problem with it. Destiny is God. That is what God wants me to be a civilian after three years, according to Sison, the clairvoyant of the Communist Party of the Philippines," he said.

Amid the suspension of the peace talks, the military recently claimed that the communist rebel group was plotting to oust President Duterte by October. Sison, however, denied they have readied a three-year plan to overthrow Duterte since he assumed office in 2016.

Duterte noted that Sison has been fighting for 50 years and "we were about to begin the beginning of another 50 years."

He insisted he prefers to go to war than give in to the demand of the rebel group for a coalition government. He said he has reviewed the past agreements forged by the government with the rebels and discovered their goal for "power-sharing."

"Abogado ako. Binabasa ko dahan-dahan 'yan. 'Pagsuma total mo 'yan, [I'm a lawyer. Ive been reading the agreements. If you summarize them], if their figures i-summate mo, it would end up power-sharing and coalition government. I cannot give it to you. Let's go to war. Let us all go to war," he said.

The government had earlier decided to defer the resumption of the peace talks with the rebels pending a review of past agreements and public consultations.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said the doors for the resumption of the talks remain open but subject to certain conditions set by the President.

Duterte wanted the peace talks to be held in the country, a condition already rejected by the rebels. He also called for a ceasefire pact with the rebels as well as cessation of revolutionary tax collection before the peace talks resume.

Tags: Communist Party of the Philippines, Duterte, Jose Maria Sison, Peace talks, President Duterte

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