DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he will send former New People’s Army (NPA) rebels to mainland China and Hong Kong to see the kind of communist government there, compared to the one being envisioned by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman, Jose Maria Sison.
“Ang problema ang kinabuhi dili ingon ana. Dili ana ka sayon. Life has to evolve. Progress and development dili gyud nimo na madala sa rebolusyon. Kung mag sige lang ug rebolusyon, sige lang ug patay, wala gyuy mahitabo sa atong nasod (But life is not like that. It’s not easy. Life has to evolve. Progress and development cannot be solved through a revolution. If you continue to rebel and kill, nothing will happen to a country),” Duterte told former rebels during a speech marking the 12th anniversary of the Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) at the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao headquarters here.
The President told the former NPA rebels to observe the transformation of China and how its reformist leaders, such as Deng Xiaoping, began to propel the communist country’s economy.
Once they are in mainland China or Hong Kong, Duterte said the former NPA cadres who have surrendered to the different units of the Eastmincom this year must compare the disparity between the Philippines and China by just looking at the latter’s economic progress.
The ex-rebels, he said, can then go back to the mountains to tell their former comrades about China’s economic progress.
The President urged those who remained in the communist group to “abandon” Sison and to “stop killing” to achieve their revolutionary objective of toppling the government.
Duterte maintained that the NPA “cannot win the war against the government.”
“Di man pud ninyo matumba ng gobyerno. Di gani mo makagunit og usa ka barangay (You cannot even topple the government. You cannot even control one barangay),” he said.
Duterte also expressed disappointment that the friendly relations he had with the NPA in Davao City failed to contribute to the peace prospects between both sides, adding that Sison’s brand of communism was to blame.
“Ang kadaot ang utok ni Sison, gusto pa kab-uton ang komunista nga sistema. Dili na man na pwede (The problem is Sison really wants to achieve the communist system. That can no longer happen),” he argued.
Duterte said even Sison has realized how hopeless the communist struggle has become that the CPP-NPA leader has resorted to lying about his health condition. By contrast, the President said Sison is sick as the latter is suffering from colon cancer that has already metastasized to his pancreas.
Still, Duterte remains optimistic with the peace negotiations with the communists, saying he is hopeful “something will be achieved in the future.”
“I want peace. Maybe the next generation will no longer face war,” he said. (Lilian Mellejor/PNA)
