Duterte to NPA rebels: Prepare for peace under my ‘presidency’

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte FILE PHOTO

STA. CRUZ, Davao del Sur—Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte asked communist rebels to end the fighting and prepare for a peaceful life under his “presidency.”

“It is time to end the fighting,” Duterte said on Monday in a speech at the 131st anniversary of this town, considered one of the last bastions of communist insurgency in the country.

“Come down from the mountains, come home and let’s talk,” he said, as he asked the crowd among them, members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

“Those who are NPAs raise your hands. Come on, don’t be shy,” he said, as the crowd gamely put their hands up.

Duterte said the 46-year-old communist insurgency had to end and that it would be among his top priorities “should God puts me there (the presidency).”

He said he would find a common solution to the communist insurgency and the Moro rebellion by inviting their respective leaders to talks.

“Filipinos cannot continue on killing each other. This has to stop,” he said.

“I have to invite (Joma) Sison to come home. I also asked Murad (Ebrahim) and (Ghadzali) Jaafar, why are we fighting here? Let’s fight Manila (instead),” Duterte said.

Sison, who is in self-exile in the Netherlands, is the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines . Ebrahim is chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front while Jaafar is MILF’s political affairs chief.   Eldie Aguirre, Germelina Lacorte and Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao