Militant leader: Duterte may pay for crimes if Lumad schools destroyed

Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes. NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

“Yes, he will go down for those crimes.”

This was what Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary General Renato Reyes had to say on Saturday to President Rodrigo Duterte who threatened to bomb Lumad schools he accused of propagating subversive ideas.

“If Duterte makes true his threat to bomb the Lumad and their schools, he will reap domestic and international condemnation, the likes of which he has never seen before. No amount of red-tagging will justify a genocidal war,” Reyes said.
Duterte, however, clarified that he did not intend to harm the people, more so students, but the establishment that disseminate subversive ideas and involved in the brainwashing of young minds.

READ: Duterte: I’ll never hurt lumad kids, I want to save them from NPA hatred

Duterte, at a press conference after his second State of the Nation Address on Monday, threatened to bomb Lumad schools he accused of “operating illegally and teaching subversion and communism.”

The president’s threat later drew flak from different groups, prodding him to retract his statement.

READ: NGO hits Duterte over threats against lumad schools

Reyes added that this could permanently end the peace talks between the Philippine government and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

“It could be the last nail on the coffin for the peace talks. It will galvanize a broad united front against his regime and hasten its demise,” said Reyes. “Yes, he will go down for those crimes.”

The militant leader also pointed out that the President should retract his statement, apologize to the Lumad, and address their just demands, as his pronouncements are seriously taken by his troops.

READ: Duterte told: Retract threat to bomb Lumad schools

“It behooves him to recall his troops who are terrorizing Lumad communities. His daily patutsada (innuendo) against the revolutionary movement is not the least entertaining nor productive. His tirades are already being taken as policy by his fascist troops,” he said.

Reyes also advised Duterte to consult his peace panel and the progressives in his Cabinet on how to move forward from his latest debacle.

“That is, if he still wants to move forward. It’s starting to look like quicksand for him, from where we’re sitting,” added Reyes.

“Duterte is positioning himself to fight a war on different fronts—backed by the US war machine—against a struggling people who have history on their side,” Reyes warned. “It is a war he cannot possibly win.” JPV