DAVAO CITY—Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte announced he had quit as resource person for the National Democratic Front (NDF) in peace talks with the government on orders by the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Duterte said on Thursday that he quit as NDF resource person after receiving a letter from Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, reprimanding him for accepting appointment in the NDF, a communist-led underground movement engaged in on and off talks with the government.
The vice mayor said Robredo had prohibited him from accepting the position from the NDF.
“They told me to refrain, then I will refrain,” Duterte said.
But Duterte said he did not see any problem in his acceptance of the NDF invitation for him to be the group’s resource person.
“My being a resource person is for the NDF to have an automatic referral. But since they are stopping me, then I am going to refrain,” he said.
In September, Luis Jalandoni asked Duterte to become part of the NDF panel as a resource person.
Former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, who was present during the Jalandoni-Duterte meeting, said the vice mayor’s effort to reach out to both the military and the communist movement was the main reason for the NDF invitation for Duterte to be part of the rebel negotiating panel.
Jalandoni described Duterte as having “rich political experience that could help in the pursuit of peace.”
“Every negotiation needs someone who is politically savvy and this is where Vice Mayor Duterte would come in. His contribution would be very valuable,” Ocampo said.
The NDF and government panels in the talks have failed to reach an agreement during a meeting backed by Norway, which acts as intermediary in efforts to bring a peaceful end to the world’s longest-running Maoist rebellion.
Just as the talks floundered, clashes between rebels and government forces continued and rebel attacks escalated against military targets and the mining industry in Mindanao.
In one of their boldest attacks, the rebels raided a mining compound in Surigao del Sur and burned sets of heavy equipment used for mining.
The rebels declared they were supporting the war on mining following that raid.
The government continues to cling to hopes that a peace agreement with the rebels can be finalized at least during the term of President Aquino.
While the military continued to seize rebel leaders and charge them with common crimes, guerrillas continued attacks against mainly government targets. Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao