Communists achieve nothing: Duterte

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday taunted the communist movement for achieving nothing since it launched a guerilla war against the government 50 years ago.

During the joint meeting of national task force (NTF) and regional task force (RTF) to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) in Tacloban City, Duterte said the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was nothing but a failure.

“The communist has not achieved anything at all,” Duterte said. “Ngayon, 53 years after, wala akong nakitang na-achieve ng komunista. Wala akong nakitang progress sa kalihukan (Now, 53 years after, I haven’t any achievement made by the communists. I have not seen any progress in their movement). Rather, it has become a group of bandits solely.”

Duterte insisted that the communists’ ideology is already “dead.”

Reiterating his order to the military to kill armed rebels, Duterte expressed confidence that communist insurgents would not succeed in its fight against the government.

“Hindi naman talaga ninyo kaya ang gobyerno, not in a million years of fighting. Yet you persist fighting government na alam ninyo, one way or another but maybe a time there tatamaan ka, mamatay ka without seeing your family (You cannot defeat the government, not in a million years of fighting. Yet you persist fighting government despite knowing that, one way or another, you will die without seeing your family),” he said.

The peace talks between the national government and the CPP’s political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF), have been intermittent since 1986.

Duterte held a series of peace negotiations with the NDF, but was forced to terminate the talks following the relentless attacks of CPP’s armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), against government troops and civilians.

Duterte formally ended the peace dialogue with the NDF through Proclamation 360 signed on Nov. 23, 2017. The termination of peace talks was followed by the Dec. 5, 2017 signing of Proclamation 374 which brands the CPP-NPA as a terror organization.

Gov’t tried everything to talk peace

Duterte said his administration did its best to reach a peace agreement with CPP, but its founding chairperson, Jose Maria Sison, lacked sincerity.

“I cannot fathom the brain of Sison however you prick it, wala na eh (it’s gone). He has I don’t know if dementia or something. He keeps on transferring from one topic to another that finally I thought that peace through negotiation sa kanila, hindi puwede. So, nag-give up na ako (with them is impossible. So I gave up although) I tried everything,” he said.

Duterte also lamented that communist rebels continue to stay in the mountains to fight the government troops.

“You (communists) go into the mountains, you hide there and fight sporadic intermittent battle against government forces,” he said. “They never had any barangay to hold even for half a day. And yet, ngayon at this very late day, wala namay nakita nato na nganong naa pa mo diha (we can’t see any good reason why you’re still there).

Apart from the Philippines, the CPP-NPA has been listed as a terror group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

‘Giant leap’ to end communism

Despite the continuing insurgency in the country, Duterte was elated that his government, through the NTF and RTF ELCAC, made great strides in fighting the communists.

“We find ourselves facing the dangers that we have been trying to overcome for decades. Today we take a giant leap towards ending the threat of communist insurgency in our country once and for all,” he said.

Duterte also reiterated his vow to former rebels that they would continue to get support from the government.

He also expressed willingness to meet rebels who want to return to the fold of the law.

“I’m ready to talk to them. Kung kailangan magpunta ako sa kanila, magpupunta ako sa kanila. Walang problema. Patayin ninyo ako, anong makuha ninyo? What do you reap? Nothing. Mag-init lang lalo (If they want me to meet them, I will do that. I have no problem with that. If you kill me, what will you gain? What do you reap? Nothing. It will just create chaos),” Duterte said.