Too much, too soon, says Duterte

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said last Friday that he has already given the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) “so much too soon,” saying he would allow the release of political prisoners only after the signing of a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the rebels.

“You are demanding the release of 120 political prisoners. I denied it. I declined to do it because I have given so much too soon. So I said to them, produce to me a document, which says that you have agreed to indefinite ceasefire,” the President said during the groundbreaking of a power plant in Bukidnon last Dec. 9.

The government has been engaged in talks with the NDFP in efforts to resolve the decades-long communist insurgency in the country.

NDFP peace consultant Pedro “Ka Gonyong” Codaste insisted bilateral ceasefire can only come if the Duterte administration fulfills its promises, one of which is the release of all political prisoners.

Codaste also reacted to earlier statements made by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Madrigal, Commanding General of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, regarding the supposed ceasefire violations of the military.

Ceasefire

Madrigal had earlier pushed for a bilateral ceasefire declaration to supplant the current unilateral ceasefire declared by both the government and the rebels.

“Murag ang tuyo man gud sa rehimeng Duterte, pinaagi sa AFP, nga ihikot kita sa malungtaron nga ceasefire, ug dili na nato gusto (It’s like the Duterte administration, through AFP, wants us tied in an everlasting ceasefire and we don’t want it),” Madrigal said.

“Hangtod karon gane pasalig pa gihapon ang gihimo ni Duterte labina sa hisgutanang pag- release sa political prisoners. Why? Kay ipadaan pa daw mi sa butas ng karayom, pero they should remember nga ang peace talks magdepende pa gihapon sa katumanan sa pronouncements ni Duterte (Until now Duterte is making us hope that political prisoners will be released. We have to go through a needle’s hole but they should remember that peace talks will depend on Duterte’s pronouncements),” Madrigal added.

Human rights group Karapatan noted that the government detains 401 political prisoners in the country.

Of the 401, 130 are sickly, 33 are elderly, 33 are women while 49 have been imprisoned for more than 10 years.

About 296 of them were “illegally arrested” during the Aquino regime, while 15 were arrested in this administration.