Duterte tells troops to ‘be ready’ after scrapping rebel truce
NPA demands ‘too huge,’ says president • Conflict with communists going on since 1968
The Philippine government will withdraw from a cease-fire with communist rebels on Friday, President Rodrigo Duterte said, as he ordered soldiers to prepare to fight and declared there would be no peace with the insurgents for a generation.
Duterte was angered by the deaths of six soldiers and the abduction of three since the New People’s Army halted its unilateral cease-fire on Wednesday. He complained that despite making multiple concessions to the communists, the NPA’s demands were “just too huge.”
The conflict between the government and the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has raged since 1968 and killed more than 40,000 people.
“I have lost many soldiers in just 48 hours, I think to continue with the cease-fire does not, or will not, produce anything,” Duterte said in a speech. “I am asking the soldiers: Go back to your camps, clean your rifles and be ready to fight.”
The cease-fires called by both sides were always fragile because they were unilaterally declared, with no rules to follow. Each side accused the other of violations.
Within weeks of taking office in July last year, Duterte made a peace process a priority and a prerequisite for his ultimate goal of introducing a federal system in the Philippines.
He offered leftists cabinet posts and promised – if peace talks succeeded – a portfolio for Jose Maria Sison, his former university professor and the Communist Party figurehead who lives in exile in the Netherlands.
Sison is listed by the United States as a “person supporting terrorism” and the Philippine government last week tried to convince Washington to remove him from the list.
“I’m really very sorry. I tried my best but like in the song, my best was not good enough,” Duterte said. “There will be no peace in this land vis-a-vis the Communist Party. Let’s resume the war.”
The NPA on Wednesday accused the military of occupying 500 barrios – or town districts – that are supposedly within their control and accused government troops of “hostile actions.”
The military responded by saying the NPA had done the same on many occasions. The NPA’s cease-fire was due to expire on February 10.
Duterte’s rhetoric was typically fierce, as was that of the military, which is normally measured in its statements.
Armed forces chief Gen. Eduardo Ano described the NPA’s conduct since Tuesday as “disdainful and disturbing.”
Duterte said the rebels’ demand for the release of hundreds of political prisoners was excessive, making a compromise impossible. He felt he had shown his commitment by freeing top communist leaders.
“I am sad to report to you that there will be no peace with the communists for the next generation,” he said.
Government peace negotiator Silvestre Bello said this week’s breakdown highlighted the weaknesses of the truce, but he was confident both sides wanted to keep the peace process alive.
“Trust is still there,” Bello told television channel ANC. “The unilateral ceasefire was not working well because there were no definitions of terms, no parameters.”