By Lilian Mellejor/PNA
DAVAO CITY — Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza bared on Sunday that Malacañang officials are set to meet with National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) leaders in Manila next week.
Dureza said he and Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo have been tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to have an informal meeting with NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili and NDFP Adviser Luis Jalandoni.
“I am now on my way to head the Philippine delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, so the planned meeting may take place upon my return next week,” Dureza said in a press statement on Sunday.
Dureza did not give the exact date of the meeting.
Duterte had earlier announced that Agcaoili, Jalandoni, and NDFP consultant Coni Ledesma had expressed their plan to visit the country.
Duterte said the visit relates to their work as members of the NDFP’s component in the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
“I will not keep it a secret. I do not want confidential-confidential. Pupunta dito sabi nila gusto nila akong kausapin. Ang problema nila pagka hinuli sila (They will come here, and they would like to talk to me. But they have problems on possible arrest),” Duterte said in his speech during the Subaraw Festival in Palawan.
The President said he made it clear to Agcaoili and Jalandoni that they could be arrested. “So nagtawag ako ng cluster meeting kasali na mga military (So I called for a cluster meeting including the military). So, what do you think?” the President recalled asking the officials in the meeting.
