MANILA — The Duterte administration may withdraw its petition to declare communist rebels as terrorists but only once a formal peace agreement has been signed, Malacanang said Thursday.
“That’s a possibility,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said after President Rodrigo R. Duterte noted that he was willing to resume peace talks under three conditions – absolute ceasefire; cease and desist from collecting revolutionary taxes; and no coalition government.
In a Palace briefing, Roque noted that should peace negotiations resume, the government could file a manifestation to hold the petition in abeyance pending the outcome of the peace talks. The petition stays until there is a final peace agreement signed.
“I think it will be withdrawn if there is a final peace agreement signed. But while the peace talks are ongoing, ang pupuwedeng gawin is, diyan lang siya (what we can do is keep it there),” he said.
Former congressman Hernani Braganza was deployed on Wednesday to meet with the bargaining panel of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) – NPA to relay Duterte’s conditions, Roque said.
He, however, said it is best to wait for the response of the CPP-NPA to the conditions set by the President.
“We don’t know in the first place if the CPP-NPA will agree to the terms of the President because the terms are not subject to negotiation,” the Palace official said.
Roque, meanwhile, confirmed that Duterte also vowed to assist members of the CPP-NPA if they agree to his terms.
“Well, he will find ways and means to assist members of the CPP-NPA by way of providing them livelihood and housing if possible; provided that they cease and desist from collecting revolutionary taxes,” he said.
Sison welcome to return
According to Roque, if peace talks resume, Duterte said CPP founding chairperson Joma Sison is also free to return to the Philippines without being put to jail. Sison has been living in exile in the Netherlands since 1987.
“If the CPP-NPA would agree to these conditions, then peace talks could resume; and if peace talks would resume, the President said he’s even able and willing to grant Joma Sison an assurance that he can come home without being arrested for the purpose of participating in the peace talks,” Roque said.
Sison, however, reportedly said that there should be no preconditions for the resumption of peace talks.
“We are awaiting their response to the government position that we are willing to resume peace talks, but subject to those conditions. So, if that is the official response of the CPP-NPA, so be it,” Roque said.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza earlier said that “the presence of an enabling environment” will be the “sole determining factor” to the resumption of peace talks.
Duterte initiated formal peace talks the National Democratic Front of the Philippines shortly after he became President in 2016 but canceled them November last year amid continued attacks of the NPA on government forces.
He issued a proclamation classifying the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization in December last year. (PNA)