Rody to Joma: Return to exile if peace talks fail

In case the proposed peace talks with the communist rebels fail, President Duterte said he would ask Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria ‘Joma’ Sison never to return to the country or else face death.

The President said he has invited Sison to return home and gave him a 60-day window for the “make or break” peace negotiations.

“Pag walang nangyari sa two months [If nothing happens in two months], I will allow him to go out. I will not arrest him because word of honor ‘yan. But sabihin ko talaga sa kanya, 'p ***** i** mo ‘wag ka nang bumalik dito. Papatayin talaga kita [that's word of honor but I'll tell him, 'Son of a b*tch do not return here. I will kill you'],’” he said during the inauguration of a bridge project in Davao City last Thursday.

"Pag walang mangyari, sabihin ko talaga sa kanya [If nothing happens, I'll really tell him], ‘Do not ever, ever return again to this country. I will kill you. You’ve killed so much of my soldiers and policemen," he added.

Duterte noted that Sison, who lives in exile in the Netherlands, has accepted his invitation to return home for the peace talks.

"I have invited Sison to come home. He has agreed. I gave him a window of two months, very small. Make or break tayo dito," he said.

The President earlier set a 60-day timeframe for peace talks he wants to revive with the communist rebels.

He, however, said the rebels must agree to a ceasefire, stop extortion activities and abandon their proposed coalition government before resuming negotiations.