DAVAO CITY — Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Tuesday asked members of the House of Representatives to expel Anakpawis Representative Ariel Casilao who has become an aberration to the government.
“Casilao is an aberration in government. Instead of working to help the workers and farmers he is supposed to represent in Congress, Casilao is now serving as the representative of the terrorists. His colleagues in the House of Representatives should expel him,” the city mayor said.
She also urged Casilao to resign from government and join his brothers in the communist movement if he intends to continue attacking the government which he is supposed to be a part of.
Duterte-Carpio issued the statement following Casilao’s reaction to her opposition to the resumption of the peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
The city mayor had earlier asked President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his decision to reopen the negotiations with the NDFP.
She said suspending the peace talks would not only mean ending the delusion of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-NDFP, but would also allow the realization of long-delayed growth and the development of the countryside.
But Casilao reacted, saying Duterte-Carpio should realize that rebellion persists because of continuing injustice in rural areas, like the concentration of land ownership in the hands of few families.
He urged the mayor to first understand why communist rebellion persists in the countryside before concluding it was a waste of time to resume talks with the NDFP.
“Mr Ariel Casilao’s comment on my opinion on the resumption of the peace talks is telling of how the representative of Anakpawis has designated himself as the mouthpiece and the attack dog of the groups responsible for a long list of terroristic activities against the people and the state over the past 40 years,” Duterte-Carpio said in a statement issued Tuesday.
She said Casilao’s pontification comes straight from the political propaganda playbook of the terrorists.
“I do not need to kowtow to the military or read a document to give my thoughts on the peace talks. My assessment is based on the wisdom I have gained as mayor and is actually reflective of the sentiments of the majority of Dabawenyos.” she stressed.
The mayor further urged Casilao to tell the international fact-finding solidarity mission “which was composed of NPA sympathizers, by the way — to put in their report that I said NPA terrorists and disorderly picketers in Davao City do not deserve rights accorded to human beings.” (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
