LUCENA CITY, Philippines – Exiled communist leader Jose Maria “Joma” Sison on Tuesday said the determination of the Duterte administration to pursue local peace talks will mean the death of the peace negotiation between the government and the communist insurgents.
“It is now clear that Duterte and his running dog General (Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito) Galvez are not at all interested in serious peace negotiations through panels duly authorized by the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) national council and the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) President as the principals at the national level,” Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder, said in a statement from Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Sison said the government move would continue “to drive nails into the coffin of the peace negotiations.”
The peace talks between the government and the NDFP first broke down in November 2017 as the administration cited the continued attacks by the Maoist guerillas against state troops despite ongoing negotiations.
Consequently, the President signed Proclamation No. 360 formally terminating the peace discussions with the communist rebels.
The NDFP is the umbrella group of all communist-led underground organizations in the country that has been conducting on-and-off peace talks with the government since 1986.
Last month, the President also terminated the appointment of all government peace negotiators.
On Monday, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President planned to create a new five-member government peace panel to be composed of two civilians and three military representatives.
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez said the new peace panel would oversee localized peace talks.
Sison said the President and Galvez were “interested merely in a psywar (psychological warfare) campaign to stage fake localized peace talks and fake surrenders between military officers and their military assets (disguised as surrendering rebels) in a stupid and futile attempt to deceive and divide the broad masses of the people.” /muf