PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has denied tapping Movie and Television Review and Classification Board member Avelino Andal to lead the backchannel negotiations with the communist founder Jose Maria Sison and other communist leaders.
Duterte said he had "no instruction" on Andal to start the backdoor talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) led by Sison, former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go said in a statement.
The President merely told Andal in an "informal manner" about the possibility of conducting backchannel talks with the communist leaders, Go said.
Duterte made the clarification during a command conference with police and military held at Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, January 15.
"Look, everybody is talking. So [I have] no instruction on Andal about back channeling,” said Duterte, as quoted by Go.
In November 2017, Duterte formally terminated the peace talks with the communist guerillas, following the string of attacks staged by the New People's Army (NPA), armed component of the CPP, launched against the government forces.
Andal said Tuesday, January 15, that the Chief Executive had delegated him to lead the backdoor talks with Sison and other leaders of the communist movement.
Following Duterte's supposed order, Andal said he already began sending "feelers" to the communist leaders about the planned backchannel dialogue, which aims to resume the formal peace negotiations between the government and the communist party.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana merely branded Andal's statement as "fake news."
"Latest [information] on Billy Andal’s claim that he was tapped by [Duterte] to conduct backchanneling with the CPP/NPA. It is fake news. The President says he never ordered him to do so," the Defense chief said. (SunStar Philippines)