Duterte calls Sison arrogant, says CPP no ‘force to reckon with’

President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

President Rodrigo Duterte has called exiled communist leader Jose Maria Sison as “arrogant” as he assailed the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Speaking to soldiers at Camp General Macario Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz on Friday, Duterte said the CPP was acting as if “they are the force to reckon with.”

“Itong komunista, akala mo kung magsalita (These communists talk as if) they are the force to reckon when [with, when] as a matter of fact they cannot even occupy as single barangay in a single day,” the President said.

He then called his former professor as arrogant.

“Nayayabangan ako sa iyo (I think you’re being arrogant), as if you are really the one in power,” he said.

Duterte continued his tirades saying leftists or NPA-backed candidates could not win an election in Davao if not because of him.

“Hindi nga sila manalo sa eleksyon sa Davao kung hindi dahil sa akin (They wouldn’t have won in elections in Davao if it were not for me),” he said.

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The President issued his tirades days before the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the CPP in Oslo, Norway from August 20 to 27.

During the peace talks, the government aims to bring back to the negotiating table the communists to end the decades-long insurgency in the country.

Duterte has earlier lifted the unilateral ceasefire he declares during his first State of the Nation (Sona) after the communist group failed to reciprocate his declaration. CDG

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