Duterte to consult with Congress, NSC before announcing new ceasefire with Reds

March 25, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte wants to convene the National Security Council, consult Congress, police and the military before deciding to declare a new ceasefire with the National Democratic Front.

“I have to consult the Speaker, the Senate president and I have to convene the National Security Council,” Duterte said in an ambush interview in Bukidnon where the groundbreaking of drug rehabilitation facility was held Saturday.

Consultations are needed to avoid incidents that will put members of the police in danger from attacks by the New People’s Army to avoid “aberration in the system of talking about peace”, Duterte said.

“We fight as warriors but we do not kill people as criminals. That I was angry when  I learned that one Army man was shot repeatedly 74 times,” he said, recalling the incident that forced him to lift the government’s ceasefire early February 3.

On Saturday, the Communist Party of the Philippines said it is set to issue a unilateral declaration of interim ceasefire not later than March 31 in anticipation of the fourth round of peace talks between the National Democratic Front and the Philippine government set April 2.  .

The CPP made the announcement after two prisoners, both militiamen, were freed in Mati, Davao Oriental.

Duterte demanded the NPA should recognize one territory which is the Republic of the Philippines.

They must release all hostages, including soldiers and civilians; and shun extortion from major companies, Duterte said.

“I want a ceasefire agreement reduced in writing, the parameters established properly,” Duterte said.  “To say that my soldiers and policemen cannot enter any territory, I do not recognize any territory for them,” he added.

In a speech, Duterte said he may have shared ideals with the CPP-NPA but not the way they are implementing it with outright disregard for the Republic.

“I am left that is why we have excellent rapport when I was mayor…we shared the same horizon about the society. I am a leftist. I am a socialist but certainly, I am not a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It’s a party of the extreme left,” Duterte said. DMS