Gov’t peace talks with Reds uncertain

The fate of the peace talks between the government and the communists remains uncertain as President Duterte has threatened to “raise the bar” in the fight against rebels and to no longer accept surrenderees.

Duterte castigated the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) led by Jose Maria Sison for threatening him, saying they do not have enough forces to defeat government troops.

“The NPAs are arrogant. These fools even threatened me. Sison claimed I am comatose. Fool. They do not have a Navy, an Army a helicopter, CAFGU (militia force) and Air Force. But they talk as if they are somebody. Don’t believe them. They are only capable of conducting ambush,” Duterte told the troops in Sulu last Saturday.

“But next time around, we will raise the bar higher... There will come a time, there will be no more surrenders. Son of a b **** . Fight until you die. We won’t accept surrenders anymore. You keep on returning,” he added.

Sison claimed that Duterte fell into a coma last week but the President denied this and claimed that the communist leader has cancer. Duterte had also called Sison a discredited leader and a freeloader who does not pay his hospital bills in the Netherlands.

Duterte has promised to work for a settlement with the communist rebels who have been waging an armed struggle against the government for about 50 years. However, disagreements between the two sides have hampered the progress of negotiations.

Duterte canceled the formal talks slated for June supposedly to personally review the agreements signed by his predecessors and the communists. “The communists – we will talk eventually whichever way you want it… we will talk in a matter of time. But I am quite tough,” the President said in a speech in Zamboanga Sibugay last July 26.