MALACAÑANG on Monday, April 23, said any condition for the revival of peace negotiations with the communist rebels beyond ensuring the security of founder Jose Maria Sison would still have to be discussed.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Sison's "new" condition would have to be discussed since President Rodrigo Duterte does not yield to "further terms."
Sison, who has been on self-exile in the Netherlands since 1987, said in a radio interview earlier Monday that the resumption of talks could only be possible without the presence of "peace spoilers."
"You know, the problem is we've been talking peace with them (communists) for years and years and years. It's never ending. So I think the President said that this is our last chance (to revive the talks)," the presidential spokesman said.
"I don't know if he (Sison) is in a position to provide for conditions. What the President said was if peace talks will resume, he's welcome to come home. The President will assure his security and the fact that he will not be arrested. Beyond that, the President has not acceded to any further terms," he added.
Roque also said Duterte's 60-day window for renewed talks with the communist insurgents is more than enough to reach a consensus on coming up with a final peace pact.
said he believed that the government and the communist group could hammer out a peace deal that would bring a "more comfortable life for all" within that period.
Roque's remark was in support of Duterte's recent move to set a 60-day time frame if negotiations with the communist group are revived.
"(It will go on for) 60 days only because I understand, the only agenda is you know, addressing supposedly the root causes of rebellion. And I don't think there's a divergence of view on the root causes of rebellion, (one of which) is poverty," he told a press conference.
"So if the government and the (communist party) will agree to address the root causes, then it should not even take 60 days because we have a common platform -- more comfortable life for all," he added.
Duterte announced the time frame in a speech delivered in Legazpi City, Albay on April 21.
The President did not say when the 60-day period would begin, but Roque said it would happen "as soon as both sides have clearly agreed to resume peace talks." Duterte is also trying to persuade exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison anew to come home and accept his invitation for another round of talks.
"I will give you the complete freedom to move. I will not molest anyone. I will order the military and the police to be nice to you," he said.
"Take advantage of that 60 days. If it succeeds, then I would like to thank God first, and the Filipino people, and the military and the police for their understanding. I cannot do anything (other than this). I have to seek peace that is to be sought," the President added.
On November 23, 2017, Duterte formally scrapped the peace talks between the government peace panel and the CPP's political wing, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), because of the string of attacks by the New People's Army (NPA) against security troops. The NPA is CPP's armed component.
But on April 3, the President alluded the possibility of reviving the dialogue with the communist group, on condition that they would stop extortion, arson attacks, and killing people. (SunStar Philippines)