Isko eyes talks with CPP but nixes coalition deal

Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — If elected president, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso will pursue peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed and political wings, but he frowns on the idea of a “coalition government” with the Left.

“I believe in one flag, one country. I believe in the Philippine flag and our government,” the Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer said at a press conference in Nueva Ecija on Friday.

“In the same manner, I want to seek any peaceful means or ways to achieve stability,” Domagoso said, citing the progress of the peace process with armed Moro rebels through the organic law that formed the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The 47-year-old former actor said it was a good sign that Muslim Filipinos were “slowly managing themselves but not separating themselves from the state.”

In the case of the CPP, its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) and its political wing, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), Domagoso said his administration would seek all means to achieve just and lasting peace.

But he categorically rejected any coalition government with the CPP, NPA, and NDFP.

“I will believe in peace talks because I believe in one flag, one country,” Domagoso said.

It was Sen. Panfilo Lacson who first warned against such a coalition government with communist leaders in response to an unsubstantiated claim that Vice President Leni Robredo’s huge rallies had been infiltrated by communist rebels.

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