Duterte stops talks to free 4 jail guards held by rebels

DAVAO CITY—Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he has withdrawn from negotiations aimed at securing the release of four jail guards being held captive by communist guerrillas.

Duterte, a peace consultant of the National Democratic Front (NDF), said he decided to stop negotiating for the captives’ release after guerrilla leaders demanded a prisoner swap.

He didn’t elaborate on the guerrilla demand, but said he considered his brief stint as negotiator for the release of the jail guards as a failure.

The vice mayor, known to have direct access to the New People’s Army, said he has arranged the hotel stay in this city of the wives of the four jail guards “thinking we could negotiate for their release.”

But the guerrillas, said Duterte in his weekly TV program here, “added some demands that I could not give.”

“They demanded a swap between their captives and political prisoners,” Duterte said.

“It’s something beyond my authority to grant,” he said. The demand for a prisoner swap, he said, is best discussed by government and guerrilla panels in peace negotiations between the Aquino administration and communist leaders.

He said he would concentrate on his role as the NDF resource person in ongoing peace talks with the government.

Duterte said he turned down the request of the jail guards’ relatives to meet with him Wednesday. “I told them to find another line,” Duterte said.

He said he did not want the military to suspect he is helping the NPA.

Being held captives by the guerrillas are Jail Inspector Murphy Todyog, Jail Warden Erico Llamares, Special Jail Officer 2 Rogelio Begontes and Special Jail Officer 1 Rolando Bajoyo Jr. Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao