Duterte likens NPA ideology to ISIS, slams Sison anew
President Duterte has slammed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison anew, comparing the ideology of the New People’s Army (NPA) to that of the Islamic State (ISIS) and saying its members are not fighting for religion, but for the ideology of a man who is not God.
Duterte, in a speech in Davao City, said that terrorism is now one of the problems in Mindanao but said the problem is not with the people there, but with the ideology of some groups in the island.
“Ang problema sa Pilipinas, actually, ang terorismo, ang
ISIS. Delikado gyud kaayo na. Dili na ideolohiya nato (The problem with the Philippines is actually terrorism. The ISIS. It’s really very dangerous. And that is not our ideology),” Duterte said.
“Dili na ideya sa Moro, Mindanao. Wala’y labot ang atong igsuong mga Moro sa Mindanao. Naa lang sila’y nadala in the same manner, kadaghanan ang naa sa NPA, mga Kristiyanos (It’s not the idea of the Moro in Mindanao. Our Moro brothers and sisters have nothing to do with it. Some of it [ideology] rubbed off of them in the same manner with majority of the NPAs and the Christians),” he added.
According to Duterte, the Moros would be the only ones who can resolve the issue in their land, urging them to not let ideology, especially that of the NPA, get to them.
“Ang inyong mga kinabuhi nagkahalamukat. Kinsa ma’y makasulbad ani? Kamo (Your lives are in disarray. But who will be able to solve this? It’s you),” he said.
“Karon, di ka man gani andam magpakamatay sa Ginoo, sa Bathala, magpakamatay lang mo’g usa ka ideya. Kinsang ideya na? Kang Sison. Unsa man na siya? Tawo. Unsa man na siya? Bugok. Hay, pirteng bugoka (You’re not even prepared to die for God, but you’d be willing to die for an ideology. Whose ideology is that? It’s Sison’s. Who is he? He’s only a man. What is he? Stupid. Very stupid),” he added, referring to Sison.
Duterte also slammed the NPA terrorists for following his former professor (Sison) whom he branded as a coward.
“Unya ang inyong gi buhat na murag Diyos, si Sison, mura ma’g torpe pa sa lahat ng torpe. Idol ko man na siya estudyante ko, maong pamaba pa’g pagilad (Then you follow Sison whom you’ve treated as your God. Sison is the most cowardly of all cowards. He was my idol when I was still a student),” the President said.
“Pero karon na muistorya na mi, gusto niya, nga muapil sila sa gobyerno, murag Politburo kita. Ay, kometiba na. Mao na hilig sila (But now, whenever I talk to him, he tells me that he wants to join the government. We are like a Politburo if that’s the case. A committee. They like that),” he added.
Duterte reiterated that one of the reasons why he opted to terminate the peace talks with the communist rebels is because they want a coalition government, something he said he cannot give to them.
“Ang atong Constitution, ka nang poder nga sovereign, kay ang poder sa gobyerno, ihatag lang na sa mga taong gi pili sa katawhan (Our Constitution is the basis of sovereignty and the government. It can only be given to the person that was chosen by the people),” he said.
“Mao ra’y makagunit ana pero ang nagpili ana, torpe, g***, way buot (But the person who would choose something like that is an immature coward),” he added.
In November last year, Duterte terminated the peace talks with the Reds, citing their insincerity to the negotiations.
Last month, Duterte said that with the many rebels now surrendering to the government, the military may be able to finish off the NPA. But he said that this is not enough reason for him to revive the peace talks as the growing number of surrenderers would only fuel the anger of those still resisting the government.
“Not at this time. Maybe. Alongside with the mass surrenders is also the ferocity of those fighting,” Duterte had said.
“Lumalaban pa rin sila, marami pa sila eh (There are a lot of them still fighting). I am not satisfied by the numbers of surrenderees,” he said.
“The barometer is if they give up or – dalawa lang ‘yan (there’s only two options). They give up or they’re all dead,” he added.
Mass surrenders But recently, President Duterte changed his town, saying he is optimistic about a “better environment” in the country next year as communist rebels continued to surrender in droves.
The President has welcomed that rebels have been surrendering “en masse” and laying down their firearms in recent months, dealing a huge blow to the group.
“At the rate they are surrendering maybe kung maawa si Allah [with the mercy of Allah] next year we might experience a better environment in the Philippines,” Duterte said during his recent visit to Sulu.
He said in the past, communist rebels used to surrender to authorities but left their firearms behind. He said it was considered “taboo” for rebels to surrender to firearms since it indicated the weakening of their force.
Duterte has reaffirmed that the government was committed to finish off the NPA, which has been blamed for extortion and other atrocities.
SPARU won’t prevail
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership assured over the weekend that the NPA’s infamous hit squad in the 1980s are not bound to return to notoriety.
Mobile phones and easy access to social media through smartphones would make it difficult for the NPA revive the glory days of its infamous the SPARU or “Sparrow Unit,” said Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, chief of the PNP.
Dela Rosa said the Special Partisan Armed Revolutionary Unit (SPARU) had succeeded in the 1980s since the NPA’s allies in urban areas easily controlled the slum areas where the rebel assassins would usually hide before and after a hit on policeman or soldier.
But technology, he said, has worked in favor of the PNP in terms of law enforcement and anti-insurgency operations in urban areas.
“It would be difficult for them now because unlike in the 1980s when they would easily control the masses and slum areas, it is just one text away to the authorities so they could not control anymore one particular place in urban areas,” he said. (With reports from Genalyn D. Kabiling and Aaron B. Recuenco)