Duterte’s latest announcement of talks termination ‘nonnews’ – Joma
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison dismissed government’s latest declaration terminating the peace talks, saying President Rodrigo Duterte has already done so last year.
“It is a nonnews,” Sison said when asked to react to Duterte’s speech Tuesday saying peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP are terminated.
“This is not the first time that Duterte terminates the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. Duterte terminated the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations on November 23, 2017 with his Proclamation 360, and then he followed it up with Proclamation 374 designating the CPP and NPA as ‘terrorist’ organizations with the malicious intent of making it doubly sure that he had killed the peace negotiations,” Sison told Kodao.
In his speech launching the Pilipinas Angat Lahat Alliance in Malacañan Tuesday, Duterte said has terminated the talks with the Reds, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and Sison, accusing them of only wanting a coalition with his government.
“We summed it all and it would really appear that it was a coalition government [they wanted] and I said, ‘I cannot give you an inch of that even. I cannot give you what is not mine,’” Duterte said.
The NDFP and the CPP has, however, repeatedly denied asking to form a coalition government with the GRP.
Sison added that it was Duterte who is being insincere in pursuing genuine peace with the NDFP and is in fact “hell-bent on establishing a fascist dictatorship, with him monopolizing political power and plunder.”
“He was in fact demanding all along the surrender and political suicide of the revolutionary movement of the people before any comprehensive agreement on social, economic and political reforms,” Sison said.
Sison said Duterte will go down in history as a mass murderer and terminator of the peace negotiations who is only succeeding in becoming the chief recruiter of the New People’s Army (NPA) by oppressing the people and goading them to join the NPA.
“He has also become the chief transport and supply officer of the NPA by sending his troops and police to the hinterlands for ambush by the NPA,” Sison said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)