Duterte assures safe passage for NDF peace negotiator

National Democratic Front (NDF) chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili will be given a safe passage if he returns to the country for possible peace negotiations with the government, President Duterte assured Tuesday.

The President revealed that he has already directed government forces to let Agcaoli return home, saying he was “not that cruel.”

“I think Atty. Agcaoili has sounded off – he was coming again to talk and I told the military and the police just allow him. For after all it’s just on a ... we’re on a waiting period about the appropriate time to talk about peace. I am not that cruel,” he said during an assembly in Davao City.

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison welcomed Duterte’s assurance.

According to Sison, the statements of Duterte at the ninth anniversary of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) in Davao City on February 19, although mixed, carried positive and negative content as well as serious and joking expressions.

The President expressed his interest to resume the peace talks with the communist rebel group during his speech. He made clear that he does not hate Sison, saying they could still be friends.

“I am not saying that I am now in agreement with Sison. I don’t like his style but I do not hate him. We are friends and we can be friends,” he said.

“Some other time they say I would kill for money. But since Sison is my professor, I will kill him for nothing. Except that before he goes to the blue yonder, kindly find time to talk sensible peace,” he said.

He said the two sides should not impose demands and instead simply talk peace. (With a report from Francis T. Wakefield)