MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has shut the door on any ceasefire with communist rebels for the remainder of his term after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) recommended not to grant any truce to the group this holiday.
In his address to the public on Monday evening, President Duterte also rejected the possibility of reviving peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front, the negotiating arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
“There will be no more ceasefire ever again under my term. For all intents and purposes, ‘yung ceasefire is dead. Wala na ‘yun,” President Duterte said.
“I walked away from the talks because we cannot understand each other. Maybe we were talking in different dialects but I just simply cannot understand the way it was being carried by the other side,” he added.
“I would say the ceasefire is dead and the peace talks between the NDF, NPA, pati ‘yong isali na rin natin legal front nila. Pati kayong lahat, I am identifying you because I have seen the records. You are really communists,” he further said. “You’re out to share power so I have to destroy you.”
The country’s chief executive also said there would be a time before his term ends when he would name all those involved in the NDF.
“Well I’m trying to sort out what we will do to you because you are now criminals and I said I have pointed out we are not only tagging you… We are identifying you and we will identify you anytime you want but there will be a time before my term ends, I will name all of you, kayong lahat sa NDF,” Duterte said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines earlier said it would not recommend a holiday ceasefire with the guerrillas, citing the alleged “incapacity for sincerity and for being unfaithful to a covenant” of the CPP and its armed wing the New People’s Army.
Meanwhile, the AFP has expressed gratitude to Duterte’s decision.
“We are thankful to the Commander-in-Chief for heeding the AFP’s recommendation not to declare ceasefire this holiday season and beyond – not because we do not want peace, but because what we advocate is a genuine and lasting peace that we cannot achieve through a peace pact with the NPA that is notoriously insincere and unworthy of public trust,” AFP spokesperson Major General Edgard Arevalo said./PN
