Joma warns Duterte of coup, slay plots
LUCENA CITY—Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte should watch out for coup d’etat and assassination plots by disgruntled military officers supposedly supported by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, according to Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison.
“The Trillanes gang has declared war on Duterte. Upon assumption of office as President and Commander in Chief, [Duterte] has to deliver decisive blows on this tiny gang,” Sison said in an online interview on Thursday.
On the eve of the national elections, a 13-minute video was uploaded on YouTube by a group called the Network of Officers to Defend the Republic. Trillanes, a former Navy officer, earlier confirmed it was produced by military officers and soldiers who did not approve of Duterte’s alliance with communist rebels.
“Only stupid political prostitutes and pathological anticommunists like Trillanes cannot understand Duterte as a smart representative of his government,” Sison said.
Duterte has said he would consider a general amnesty for political prisoners, which Sison described as a “high-minded, generous and excellent initiative.”
Sison said Duterte’s statement meant the incoming Philippine leader was willing to inspire the achievement of a just and lasting peace.
Duterte’s proposed general amnesty was based on “sound precedents” of the amnesty proclamations by former Presidents Corazon Aquino in 1986 and Fidel Ramos in 1992, Sison said.
He said the Filipino people and the majority of government officials, businessmen and military and police officers were interested in the resumption of peace talks between the Duterte administration and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
Sison said the NDFP would consult with the special envoy of the Norwegian government for advice and assistance on ceasefire monitoring and the formation of reciprocal ceasefire committees and liaison officers.
The Norwegian government is brokering the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the NDFP.
